#i wanna help her commit incredible violence

[kingsbride-moved]

✏️ for az??

"Eternalflowershipping" comes from AZ's floette! Though neither she nor the move can be used in game without hacking, she has a special move called Light of Ruin that gives name to the flower she holds:

"Drawing power from the Eternal Flower, the user fires a powerful beam of light. This also damages the user quite a lot."

It's also apparently the most powerful fairy type move in the whole game 😭

[faerunsbest]

Tav Character Worksheet: Ma'na

(i wasn't sure if you wanted dwylla or the new tav ma'na so im using this to flesh out mana)

with Ma'na i haven't even built her up in bg3 i just built her like Dwylla. with whatever i was capable of doodling and what i know from playing and researching.

as far as tags uhh if you guys wanna play @dutifullylazybread @falcatamandarina @cinnasalmon @commander-krios

thank you elven-e-girl

Name: ma'na its a joke because mages need mana and i made her for rolan! haha i thought it was funny anywho

Age: shes early to late 30's but doesn't actually know how old she is as she doesn't count it or celebrate birthdays.

Gender:female, happily woman although she does not limit herself to 'fem' activities and the like

Sexuality:Bisexual. she find herself attracted to certain features (dark eyes//split tongue//ect) although you can be none of the things she finds attractive and still land her if you make her laugh and feel safe

Pronouns:she/her

Tav voice:n/a

Family:Ma'na is one of 23 children. they are drowe that work mines, there are so many of them for the same reason farmers used to have a million kids. its cheaper to raise em then hire em. She used to be a rather mid worker but was prominent for the sole reason of she

Birthplace: Somwhere between mintar and thornwood there is mine. that mine is where she was born and where she lived her life

Job(s): she has done very little as since she was born she as told her purpose. to work. manual labor, mining, building, digging, demolition and all that comes with helping keep her family up and running

Phobia(s): drowning/suffocating ,nothing terrifies her as much as not being able to just perform the basic task of breathing

Guilty Pleasures:in all honestly she feels guilty about wanting to be wanted for more than she can offer.

she feels guilty about feeling pleasure in her body and her form, things like touching cuddling, kissing fucking and masturbating makes her feel likes shes doing something wrong

Hobbies:singing. sculpting sewing

she sings in the mines and her voice echoes down cold stone keeping people awake, sending chills when you've forgotten shes there.

with all the clay she pulls up from the soil, she pressed her fingers deep appreciating the feel of around her fingers, pressing, pulling stretching and smoothing clay until it resembles someone or something

she loves fixing old clothes, stitching in little pictures to make broken old worn out things feel new and loved still

alignment chaotic good. overall she wants good happy things but people aren't always good and she sometime retaliate with excessive violence or some form of mischief

sins.previous to the nautiloid she didn't have a lot of opportunity to commit any notable sin. even so probably the most notable things shes done is sleep with Dammon when she was supposed to be working. she also kicked the absolute living shit out aradin far past a singular punch

virtues: she does her best to believe people are good and give them a few chances to be good which is why she wont let astarion ascend

This or That?that?

Introverted or extraverted? depends on the day, but mostly extroverted

Organized or disorganized?mostly organized but any more than is useful

Closed or open-minded? forever curious shes quite open minded

Calm, anxious, or restless? calm, theres very little that sirs anxiety in her. shes always very much 'ill either die or i wont'

Disagreeable or agreeable?usually very agreeable as she just wants to enjoy herself

Cautious or reckless? moderately cautious

Patient or impatient? very patient, she willing to wait for good things

Outspoken or reserved?depends on the topic, shes very reserved with gale as she like to let him yammer but with astarion and laezel she feels its incredibly important they know how she feels

Leader or follower? she never lead anything until the nautiloid, as long as she knows what needs to be done she can lead but prefers to just do her part and be done

Empathetic or apathetic?incredibly empathetic

Optimist, pessimist, or realist?somewhere between optimist and realist, as in do the best with what you've got but a person can not expect miracles

Traditional or modern? whatever is easiest and most efficient she has no qualms in either direction

Hardworking or lazy? she will as hard as is needed but no harder than is required

OTP: ma'na and rolan my loves

BROTP:astarion/ ma'na they talk a lot, about things they wish would or wouldn't have happened. when he offers to please her at the grove she catches him outright, stating she wont touch him unless that what he wants, actively wants. he's so thrown off guard they wind up sitting out there talking until its time to leave in the morning

NOTP:SHADOW HEART

they just do not mesh and shart doesn't join them on the mission despite being rescued on the ship

[yelldeadcellvrremix]

1 or 12

I'm choosing tripple violence for this one since there wasn't a fandom specified, so I'm doing THREE fandoms at once

1: The character everyone gets wrong

Devil May Cry: Ironically enough, despite being the literal main character, it's Dante. Everyone wants to keep this idea of him being just silly and dumb but they completely forget that it's just a front. He's definitely carefree and laid-back, but he isn't stupid. He knows what he puts himself through, he knows when to be serious. Even when he is joking and making quips and one-liners, Dante is still stressed about the situation he's in. Hell, he makes those jokes BECAUSE he's stressed, as confirmed by series creator Hideki Kamiya.

Going on a bit of a tangent: Lots of people complain about his theme song, Subhuman, supposedly not fitting his character because it's "too edgy" but they're dead wrong lmao. It's a PERFECT song that showcases just how much pressure he's put under and that it's incredibly easy for him to go berserk at any moment, so be glad he's choosing to use his powers to help humanity rather than harm it.

Sly Cooper: I'm with the rest of the fandom when I say that Penelope becoming a twist villain in Thieves in Time was an ass pull for the sake of a cheap twist, but honestly, it isn't like there's 0 chances of her doing something like that. While under her Black Baron persona, she brought on on pilots who'd commit awful acts like stealing parachutes and sneaking rat poison in the coffee machines. She basically brushed over all of that, and only really brought attention to the fact they were doing it at night, since that was when she'd take her disguise off and thus be exposed. Even if Penelope didn't encourage or participate in it, she doesn't seem to have issues with doing something worse than what the Cooper gang would allow themselves to do. At least, as long as she's not the one being harmed.

We also know nothing about her upbringing or why she's like that, so there's definitely room for interpretation and thus you can definitely write something that shows a logical progression for her becoming a villain. The problem is that it happened in Thieves in Time of all games.

12: The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Devil May Cry: Put Lucia in a better game. Even though I agree on DMC2 being the worst mainline game, Lucia makes the story absolutely worth it. Her story of having to come to terms with being a demon made to serve another is incredibly compelling and it sucks that Capcom barely acknowledges her. Like, seriously you'd think that she and Trish could have a few scenes with each other considering their similar backstories, but no. Even if you don't wanna play the game, watch the cutscenes. For her.

Metal Gear Solid: IF ROSEMARY HAS A MILLION FANS, I'M ONE OF THEM. IF ROSEMARY HAS 10 FANS, I'M ONE OF THEM. IF ROSEMARY HAS 0 FANS, THAT MEANS I AM DEAD. I'm just gonna link this video by Futurasounds Productions on why Rosemary matters so much. My only issue with it is that it paints Raiden as self-absorbed for rightfully not wanting to open up about his trauma. I will have to address this one complaint though:

"She cheated on Raiden while he was away!!" Honestly, I have to agree that this was bad...

BECAUSE SHE SHOULD'VE GOTTEN WITH ME.

HAVE FUN IN THE WAR DUMBASS I'LL BE AT HOME FUCKING MILITARY WIVES #MY GIRLFRIEND'S HUSBAND FIGHTS FOR YOUR FREEDOM

[riddle-me-ri]

Twojar Riddler x F!Reader - Wedding Woes

A/N: Hi, so, uhh I’ve been mulling over this idea for a minute. For one, I wanna write anything I can to alleviate my dislike for Riddler’s Prelude to the Wedding issue (which is why this is twojar specific), because yeah, no. But also this is sort of a comfort piece for me? My family has not one, not two, but three weddings all less than five months apart from each other. My cousin’s was in June, and now my sister’s is coming up in November (two days after my bday rip, I know she couldn’t help it but goddamnit…) and my other cousin has her’s in January…and I literally just want to rip my hair out. So if you don’t mind I’m gonna indulge myself with this piece to help me cope with all this wedding madness going on..

Trigger Warnings: 18+ ONLY Minors DNI! Strong language, explicit sexual content (unprotected sex w/afab reader, fingering), mentions of violence and criminal activity

Word Count: 2.7 k

Twojar Riddler x F!Reader - Wedding Woes

Well, guess the news around town was true. 

The Bat and the Cat…finally tying the knot, who would’ve thunk. You were fairly certain Selina wouldn’t be the type to want to be tied down to a commitment. You shrugged as you took in the city skyscape from your balcony. 

I wonder how Eddie’s taking it? What he thinks of this engagement…

Speak of the Devil, he came to join you out on the balcony. You fell backwards into his chest when he wrapped his arms around you from behind. He placed his chin on top of your head after kissing the top of it. 

He’s quiet, way too quiet. 

“Have you heard the news?” You asked, offering a line of conversation. 

Ed scoffed, you could feel the outtake of air move some hair around. “How could anyone have not heard? It’s all anyone is talking about…”

“I’m still pretty baffled.” You commented. “I just didn’t see Selina being the type, nor Bats really.”

“I never thought he could divorce himself from Gotham.” You joked. “Unless they’ve got some kinda special three way going on..”

Edward chuckled, but more out of habit than sincerity. After a moment of awkward silence, you turned around to face him. You put your arms on top of his, that were still wrapped around you. Your hands rested on his chest as you start gently caressing him. 

“What’s up, Eddie? I can tell when your minds turning, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is without you telling me…” You giggled. 

Nothing. Your eyebrows started to furrow in the middle. 

“Eddie?”

“W-would you…would you ever consider marrying me?”

Oh…OH

You mouth was opening and closing, trying to get your brain to start thinking and speaking your next words. 

“I, um, uh…well…to be honest I never thought about it,  like just marriage in general. Never saw it in my cards. I mean sure when I was little, I think every little girl thinks about her own when they go to their first wedding of a family member. But as time went on, and the more I saw the uglier side of things, I just never thought about it.” 

Edward nodded. “I, too, never thought much about it. Until tonight anyway. I never suspected Batman and Catwoman, in hindsight I should have, given how close they are and just how much he lets her off the hook.” 

“However, she’s easier to forgive I suppose. She hasn’t caused mass terror throughout the city, killed countless civilians…” 

You pulled him closer to you, resting your head on his chest. Your hands going up his back as you gently rubbed his shoulder blades. His arms dropped to his side as you held him in your embrace. 

“I’m beyond forgiveness and redemption. I’m not someone who gets married.” He concluded. 

“Oh, Eddie…” You squeezed around his abdomen tighter. 

“I’m not even sure why you’ve stuck it out with me for so long…I-I have nothing to give you in terms of a future, surely not a happy ending either.” 

“I don’t need a happy ending and if I’m with you in my future that’s all I want.” You picked your head up to look him in the eyes. 

“You make it sound incredibly romantic.” He huffed. “But it doesn’t change or make it better. Doesn’t change who I am, what I’ve done, and what I’m bound to do.” 

“I know, I know it won’t, but I’m willing to accept it. Willing to take the bad with the good. Because you make me happy, we’re happy together.”

You brought your hands back around from behind him and held his face in your hands. Your thumb gliding over both his cheeks. 

“That…that’s, that’s rather selfish. Staying with a murderer, terrorist, criminal like me…because I make you happy.”

“If being happy with you…in a world where no matter how much good you do, no matter how many rules you follow, or cross your T’s and dot your I’s. You still get fucked over, taken advantage of, and spit on. If loving you makes me finally feel a fraction of happiness and tranquility, despite who you are and what you’ve done…hell yes I’m selfish. I’m selfish as hell. And I don’t give a damn.” 

You smiled proudly as Ed’s eyes widened at your statement. 

“Riddle me this…” Your hands slid down his face and locked behind his neck. “Oswald Cobblepot has a pretentious one. Selina Kyle’s can also be a first name. And Bruce Wayne’s is printed all over the city. And I want yours, what am I?”

Ed’s eyes furrowed for a second as he mulled over it. His mind immediately forgetting the previous thoughts whirling around in his head. You could tell he finally got it when he let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. 

“Very cute, Y/N.”

“If you got on your knee right now and asked me to marry you I would say yes with no hesitation. I think Y/N Nygma has a good ring to it. Don’t you?” You tilted your head, a sweet smile plastered on your face. 

Ed nodded. “Yes, it really does..”

“And besides…” You began. You removed your hands from Ed’s face and held his hands as you outstretched both your arms. 

“Who needs a wedding?” You proposed. “Who needs a guestlist, invitations, registries, DJs and music. Hell, who even needs the minister!” 

You squeezed Edward’s hands as you gave him a beaming smile. “Do you, Edward Nygma, take me, Y/N L/N, to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.” You pulled him closer to you with each vow until he was back in your embrace. 

“I-I didn’t even ask you.” Ed chuckled, breathlessly.

“I had a feeling you wouldn’t think it’ll ever be okay to ask me, so I just took it out of the equation.” You smirked. 

“I do.” Ed smiled. 

“And I do too, shamelessly, now and always. Ring or no ring” You framed his face again with your hands. Your face inched closer and closer to his. 

“You may now–mm!” Your statement was interrupted by Edward crashing his lips to yours in a sweet kiss. 

You smiled into the kiss, as you squeezed his face. His arms found home again around your waist. 

When the need for air overcame the desire to stay lip locked, you both backed away from the kiss. Ed rested his forehead on top of yours. You leaned up to kiss his nose. 

“What ever will I do with you?” He muttered. 

“Well, you better figure it out, looks like you’re going to be stuck with me for a long time.” You teased as you scrunched up your nose. 

Ed snickered. “There’s no one else I’d rather be stuck with…Mrs. Nygma.”

You gasped before letting out a fit of giggles. “I was right it does sound nice.” 

Edward let you go and back away from you, but was back at your side and before you knew it, he had you in his arms with your feet off the ground. He was carrying you, carrying you like a groom would his bride from the church. 

You shrieked as your feet suddenly left the ground, but your shrieks were replaced by laugher as you wrapped your arms around his neck to hang onto something. 

You kissed his cheek as he carried you back into the apartment. Through the living room and through an open door that belonged to your shared bedroom. He playfully tossed you on the bed. You laughed as you got up on your knees and went to the foot of the bed to wrap your arms back around him. 

You leaned in for another kiss, one more passionate and sloppy than before. Your hands crawled to the back of his head, your fingers combed through his orange strands. When you had to separate to get another gulp of air, you started kissing his cheek, his jawline, developing a trail down to his shoulder. 

Ed cupped the side of your face, to bring it back up to look at him. He grabbed the edges of your oversized shirt and quickly pulled it over your body, exposing your upper half to him. It was his turn to start peppering your skin with kisses, going down a very similar path to the one you had started on his skin. 

Your hands dropped down to his lower abdomen. Your fingers wiggled to get underneath his white shirt, to start pulling it off him. He felt your warm fingers touch his skin, causing him to tense a little until he noticed what you were doing. 

“Need help?” 

“That’d be splendid, Mr. Nygma.” 

He chuckled as he stepped away from you to pull his shirt over his head. No matter how many times he bares himself to you, your mouth never ceases to water at the sight. You fell back onto the bed, scooting yourself closer to the head of the bed. Ed crawled onto the bed and hovered over you. You couldn’t resist leaning up to steal another kiss from his sweet lips. 

As the two of you kissed, his hands began exploring your body. Squeezing and caressing wherever he recalled got you gasping and moaning into his lips. Like when he kneads your chest or squeezes your love handles. It doesn’t take long for you to start moaning. 

He breaks the kiss to continue what he started. He kissed and lapped along your neck before softly suckling along the bone. His hands continued to roam your body, until it got to the band of your shorts. 

You gasped as your lower half was now exposed, and you laid completely bare before him. One of his hands went back to knead your breast, while the other stayed below your waist. His index finger softly caressing in between your folds. His mouth went to your other breast and began softly sucking on the nipple.

“E-Eddie…” You moan softly. One of your hands was cradling the back of his head, while the other clung around his back. Slowly, Ed eased his finger inside of you, which caused you to gasp in surprise but was quickly melted into moans. Satisfied at finally feeling some friction. 

Edward continued to steadily pump his finger in and out of you. Occasionally taking his thumb to rub long tight ovals into your clit, which caused his hands to get soaked even more. Using the extra slick, he was able to ease his middle finger to join in his ministrations. 

You grabbed his face again and brought his lips to yours. Your tongue impatiently parted from your lips, wanting access to enter his. He willingly allowed your tongue to roam his mouth. He quickened his fingers’ pace in and out of you. You moaned into the kiss, between the warmth of his mouth and the friction to your core. You were melting into the bedsheets below you. 

As Edward’s fingers felt your walls start to tighten around his fingers more frequently, he removed them from your core. You tore from the kiss to let out a frustrated sigh. 

“You were getting close…” He mumbled. 

“Yeah.” You growled. 

He snickered before pecking your forehead. “I’ll make it up to you, I always do don’t, I?” 

You roll your eyes but muttered a soft, “yeah…I guess.” 

Ed removed his sweatpants and boxers in one swift pull and he tossed them somewhere off to the side of the bed. He got back in place, hovering directly above you. You looked down to see him gently pump his hard cock. He took the precum developed at the head and spread it along his cock. He leaned back over you, lining his cock up to your entrance, rubbing the head gently in between your folds. 

You and Ed both let out sharp moans and groans when he finally entered you fully. Your legs wrapped tightly like a vice around his waist. You moved your hands to go back to hold his face, but he stopped them before they mad contact. He placed your hands down on the mattress near your head. He entwined his fingers with yours, squeezing your hands against his flesh and the sheets. 

Sounds of your moans grew, as he resumed the pace he started with his fingers. His dick filling you more than his fingers, and reaching further into you than his fingers could. 

“E-Eddie…mmm…”

His head dipped back down towards you, tucking it back between your neck and shoulder. Edward started nipping and suckling along your collarbone as he picked up his thrusting pace. Your hands squeezed his, your nails barely scrapping against his rough knuckles.

You turned your head, so your lips could reach his face. You began kissing alongside his face or the top of his head, as he moved along the front of you. 

“I love you, Edward Nygma...mmm…n-nothing will change that.” You manage to mutter out between your gasps and moans. 

Edward increased his pace at your words, making you swallow any other words you may have had. Replacing them with cries and moans. 

“I love you…” he grunted. “A-Absolutely adore you.” 

Both of your hands squeezed each other before he pulled one of his hands away to go down your body. You released your other hand from his and opted to wrap your arms around his neck. While one of his hands were at your front, the other wrapped around your back, slowly lifting you off the bed. 

The hand in your front squeezed between your bodies, finally finding it’s destined location. His thumb started stroking your clit again in tight fast circles. 

“E-Ed…mmm…Eddie!” 

“Y/N…ahh..” He began thrusting harder and faster. Pulling completely out with just the tip of his head still in and thrusted fully back in, before repeating.  

Your nails began biting his head and back, the hand on his back slowly dragging them down his spine, causing him to groan deeper. The sound making you squeeze your walls tighter around his cock. 

The all too familiar knot was getting tighter and tighter, just moments from coming undone. You tried to hold out just a little bit longer, wanting to cum with him. 

Your lips collide once more with Edward’s as your hands converge at his head. Your fingers combing through bits of his hair and sideburns. Your thumbs rubbing his cheeks, lovingly.  All it took was one more thrust, he stilled himself inside you. His thumb never stopped twirling around your clit as your walls held his cock in a chokehold. 

You broke the kiss as your body broke out in a warm sticky sweat, your body and limbs convulsing under him. Edward wrapped his arms around you, holding you close during the shakes. You shivered as you felt his release fill you up to the brim. 

As Ed gently laid you back down onto the mattress, he lovingly tucked your hair back and out of your face. He gave you a kiss on the forehead before looking back at into your eyes. You leaned up a little to give him a small sweet kiss. 

After cleaning up, and you stole yet another shirt of his. It didn’t take you long to fall into a dreamless sleep on his bare chest. The both of you cuddled in the bed and cozy under the covers. Edward had an arm wrapped around you, his hand periodically caressing your arm up and down. 

He looked down upon your sleeping figure. Someone that was comfortable, at ease, and truly happy with himself. He didn’t even like himself most days, not that anyone would know he hid it pretty damn well. Yet, there was you, an even greater conundrum than he is. 

Be that as it may, in moments like this…everything made sense. For a moment, Edward thought just about anything is possible now, especially with you. Maybe just maybe, matrimony isn’t entirely out of the question for him. 

“Riddle me this…Oswald Cobblepot has a pretentious one. Selina Kyle’s can also be a first name. And Bruce Wayne’s is printed all over the city. And I want yours, what am I?”

He grinned. 

It’s a last name.

[adventures-of-the-creeping-bam]

NEVER SPLIT THE PARTY: THE ADVENTURES OF THE CREEPING BAM,  BOOK TWO: ONE COLD TRAIL - CHAPTER 30

If you’re new to the story, please go check out Book 1 first …

Book 2 Chapter 1 is here …

IMPORTANT:  Please note this story includes content that may be considered mature, such as moderate battle violence, some strong language and occasional mild sexual scenes.

If you want to support my writing, feel free to swing by my Patreon or Ko-fi.

CHAPTER THIRTY:  KESLA

Vandryss is really good, I am keenly aware of this fact.  This whole time we been fighting, she’s fought off everything I’ve thrown at her, she’s just too quick and a whole lot stronger than I would’ve expected just to look at her.  That said, I fought enough seemingly underwhelming individuals who turned out to be incredibly dangerous in my time that this ain’t nothing like the surprise she might’ve banked on.  Her impressive talent, though … that was enough of a surprise for me.

She’s run me ragged since we started this, when Shay arrived I didn’t even try to convince her not to join the fight because I knew I really didn’t have much left, she came to help at just the right time.  But then this evil fucking cunt just beat down what we were both able to throw up against her and now Shay’s sitting there in her own blood, one of the nastiest wounds you can get in her gut and a potential death sentence hanging over her.  I seen wounds like that before, it’s a rare thing to survive one of those. She’s strong, she might last a few days, but she’s almost certainly gonna die, and it’s a real painful way to go, too.

I’m mad.  I am absolutely fuming, in fact.  I wanna tear this bitch apart with my bare hands and bathe in her blood.  This is the kind of rage that makes a person unstoppable … and it might be enough to win this fight …

Seeing me coming for her, Vandryss just shrugs, spreading her arms wide as she takes a few steps back, still wearing that sickening smile.  “That mean it’s just you and me again?”  Her accent’s thicker than Yeslee’s, she’s definitely from Tektehr, and hearing it now … yeah, to be honest that just makes me hate her even more.

When I’m within striking distance I don’t bother with any banter, don’t try anything fancy, I just spur myself into a full, furious charge and head straight for her.  I don’t even raise my sword, I just tighten up and throw myself forward, and now I see the first whisker of doubt cross her face before I just commit and I’m not even seeing her face anymore.  I’m just concentrating on her centre of mass.

“Oh … shit!”  I hear her mutter it under her breath as I surge in, but if she tries to react as she realises I’m not doing what she would’ve expected me to do she’s too slow to make any difference now.  I catch her full force in the middle with my shoulder and keep moving forward, pushing upwards as I make contact and then just stopping on the spot, or at least as much as the wet grass allows me to.  Needless to say she goes flying.

She sprawls hard on her back and skids as she lands, but somehow she still manages to keep hold of her blades.  If she’s winded it don’t show, she starts getting up almost immediately, but I ain’t interested in giving her a chance to collect herself right now.  I just want her dead.  So I charge in again and swing Hefdred up high, catching the hilt in my offhand at the last so I can use full force as I bring it down on her while she’s still just up onto one knee.

Except she’s still so damn fast, she catches me coming and it’s enough for her to get her sword and knife both up before I can cut down into the top of her head, maybe split her in two, I’ve long since given up trying to capture her alive.  Instead my blade just crashes down into both of hers as she crosses them over her head, and while the force of my blow is enough to knock them down again, she still manages to stop me an inch or so short of her crown.  Growling hard, I just start trying to force my blade down further, putting every ounce of strength I can muster into it now as I fight to crush her arms down under my sword and bite into her skull after all … but no joy.  It’s like trying to cut through solid granite.

‘Least she ain’t smiling anymore, I realise.  I catch sight of her blazing emerald eyes glaring up at me from under her rigid blades, a littler tremulous now but it’s just the subtle quiver of her own effort to ward me off, she ain’t weakening.  She’s pissed, though, I got her angry now, and in the face of this it feels like a tiny victory.  I force my own smile to my lips now, and while it don’t feel fantastic, reckon I at least got it smug as I can manage.  Seeing that, she just narrows her eyes, growling low under her breath.  Means it’s working.

So I take a little risk and just take my weight off the blade for a split. Enough for me to draw my shoulders back, tensing again as soon as I get a little relief.  She doesn’t catch my intent quick enough to react, so as I give less than an inch I snap back down on it immediately, throwing my full weight on Hefdred again with a hard downward jolt.  And she gives.

Not by much, mind, but the surprise is enough she slackens by a degree at least, and this time I chop down more than another inch.  She ducks her head aside too quick for me to cut down right into her crown, her reflexes are clearly too good for that, but I still manage to catch the side of her forehead before she can withdraw enough, cutting a line into her white skin.  That makes her snarl with particular fury, and her eyes flash again before they clamp shut.

Breaking contact, she drags both blades away from under my sword in the same motion that she throws herself aside with, but as she starts to unbalance me I just keep pushing Hefdred down with full force, hoping I can proper cut into her while she’s disengaging.  She’s still so fucking fast, she almost gets clear before I can catch her, but my sword just nicks her thigh before she can quite make it, and I know I cut deep.

Then Hefdred thumps deep into the turf and I almost drop onto my knees as I fight to keep from just falling forward entirely.  I barely manage to recover myself in time, and I pull back immediately, yanking the blade free with a great spray of muddy soil and shredded grass, wheeling my arms a bit as I find myself stumbling backwards. Vandryss could take me right now, but she’s too busy staggering away herself, visibly limping from the long, deep gash I’ve carved right through the leather of her fitted britches and the flesh beneath.  Once I’ve righted myself again I chance a look at the sword, and while it’s still a little muddy despite the rain, I can see blood’s getting washed away too.  A pretty decent amount, in fact.

Vandryss drops her knife as she keeps staggering back from me, her now free hand going straight to the wound, but her eyes are locked on me.  Narrowed to slits now, I can still make out the green fire flashing between her lids, and her face is filled with rage and pure hate. She’s surprised, I realise after a moment, amazed I actually wounded her, she clearly never expected I’d actually be able to draw her blood, never mind twice in the space of a minute.  It’s already starting to pour down the side of her face, although the nick’s too far to the left for it to get in her eye, which might have given me an additional advantage going forward.  That said, it’s not doing any favours for her mood.

“You … you massive bitch, I can’t … is that dwarven steel?”

Raising Hefdred again, I point it towards her like I did before, looking down the line of the blade.  There ain’t so much as a scratch on it from that little wrestling match.  “Best in the world.”  I give a little smirk as I answer her.

She watches me with fresh caution for a long moment, clearly re-evaluating now. “There’s more to you than I thought, clearly.”  She grits her sharp teeth and takes her hand away from her wounded thigh, giving it a little shake and then rubbing her fingers down her side to get rid of the blood as she takes up a two-handed grip on her sword.  Then she shifts her weight and puts it on her bad leg, and it doesn’t buckle like I would’ve expected.  There’s the subtlest tightening in her jaw and narrowing of her left eye, but otherwise it’s like she’s not even hurt.  Okay … that’s interesting …

Her attack’s so fast I almost don’t see it.  One beat she’s just squaring up for whatever’s coming, then she’s just surging towards me, visibly blurring now as she whips to the left and then right with startling speed.  In the end it’s my surprise that actually saves me, reckon if I’d actually reacted to that first feint I might’ve been caught out, but instead when she comes at me on my right and flicks her sword in high I parry it essentially without thinking about it first.  A whole youth of muscle-memory from years of intensive training and then close to two more decades of living everyday with a sword in my hand means I block her attack by pure instinct.  As I batter her blade aside I lunge forward under her deflected stroke and slash for her exposed chest with my own sword, but she’s already gone, dodging aside before I can cut anything but air.

My leading foot skids over the wet grass and I just let myself go down with it, and this is enough to save me again as Vandryss tries to cut me down from behind, her blade whistling harmlessly right over the top of my head. I go down on one knee as I start to turn to counter whatever she’s got coming next, and as I spin, fighting to get my other foot planted behind me now, I just whip Hefdred round in a wild, unfocused haymaker where I figure she might be.  This catches her intended attack mostly by accident, but my stroke’s hard enough to send her stumbling back again with her sword loudly buzzing in her hand.  She scowls as she fights to right herself, and the fresh pain in her face tells me she’s clearly rattled by the jarring vibrations from that hit.  Again it gives me enough breathing room to recover as I force myself into a low ready stance with my sword held low.

The way she peddles aside as she rights herself again tells me she’s not quite so ignorant of that thigh-wound as she’s been working on making out – she’s a tough cookie, then, and definitely unexpectedly powerful, but not so much that she’s some kind of strange, unbeatable super-beast.  She spits towards me as she plants her feet again, matching my stance, and it’s clear she’s gonna wait for me to make a move this time.

Lowering Hefdred a little more, I stick its tip a couple of inches into the sodden turf between us as I take a half-step forward, keeping my eyes locked on hers the whole time, and she’s so busy watching mine that she doesn’t realise what I’m doing.  So when I whip the blade up fast and hard in front of her as I start my charge, a wet, filthy splash of displaced mud catches her in the face and she hisses in furious distress as she stumbles backwards again.  Her free hand flails at her face to clear the blinding mess away from her eyes while her sword flails unguided in front of her in a desperate ploy to try and ward me off, but I’m too focused to be dissuaded.

Battering her sword aside with the casual ease of swatting a cold-drowsed fly in late autumn, I’m not even thinking about trying to fight anymore, I just want this done.  So I cock Hefdred back down low and tight and as I close in on her as she drags a clump of mud away and tries to blink through it I just thrust forward with all the strength I can muster.  There’s that resistance I’ve grown used to with leather armour, but her leather breastplate’s no match for the force and momentum I’ve built up and the sharp, hard steel of my blade, so I ram the whole length of my sword right through her chest.  I don’t stop until the hilt meets resistance from her solar plexus, so for a long moment as I stop there, panting with the effort, she’s hung an inch or two off the ground at the end of my extended arms.

Spitting blood, Vandryss tilts her head back for a long moment with a croaking rasp as her sword slips from her fingers and thumps harmlessly into the grass below, before giving her chin a hard jerk and looking back down at me again. She blinks again through her filthy hair now that the worst of the mud’s been washed clear, and this time she’s able to focus enough on me I can see the hot blaze of her eyes again, flashing brighter than ever now.  She coughs, spitting up more blood again, and my arms are starting to weaken so I just let them drop, Vandryss’ body falling with them.  Her feet touch the ground and they’re still strong enough to hold her up, which takes me a little by surprise as I let her support my sword now while I take a long step forward to bring my face close to hers.

“How does that feel, you evil cunt?”

Vandryss just blinks a few more times, still trying to get a bead on me through the lingering remnants of the mud, but her eyes are meeting mine well enough now, and as she bares her clenched teeth this time she starts to growl. Finally she lets out a decidedly winded snarl and the kick that follows takes me entirely by surprise, I admit I really wasn’t expecting her to be able to do anything like that with nearly three feet of sharp dwarven steel rammed right through her.

Her boot smashes hard into my gut and it’s all I can do to hold onto my sword as I’ve pummelled back with astounding force.  I swear, it feels to me like I’ve taken a trebuchet’s boulder full in the stomach, the force of it knocks me full back right off my feet and I must fly a good ten feet before landing in the wet grass and skidding on my back.  At least the landing’s soft, but my whole stomach feels like it’s been forced right back through my spine, I’m astounded my spine didn’t just snap the moment she kicked me, and it’s as much a surprise I’ve still got my sword clutched in my right hand.

I lie there for what feels like a long time indeed, rain just washing over the lenses of my goggles from the tumultuous, broiling darkness overhead, lightning flashes popping off in bright wet blurs I have to blink at in random spots of my vision.  After a seeming eternity I’m finally able to drag in a fresh breath and I try to sit up again as I start gasping and coughing, but my guts protest instantly, feeling like I’ve ruptured something from the sheer, aching pain that I’m feeling right through my midsection.  That can’t have just been a kick, surely?  She must’ve hit me with something …

Unable to sit up, I just brush the rain the rain from the lenses while I raise my head, slowly realising half of it’s my winded tears underneath as I fight to focus now.  Vandryss is still on her feet, but she’s staggering again, almost doubled over now as she grasps at the substantial wound in her chest, gawking somewhat as she casts about, struggling to retrieve her sword … shit, that was right through her heart, how is this monstrous thing still fucking standing?

Finally managing to drag her sword up out of the mud, Vandryss looks up towards me again, eyes still narrowed while she spits another mouthful of blood.  She genuinely looks like something I’d imagine from a campfire horror story, this is something out my nightmares coming for me now, and seeing it gives me a little fresh strength as my fight-or-flight responses kick in.  Even though it feels like my guts are being pierced by red hot pokers and my back’s made of shattered glass, I manage to sit up at last, and as I double over, grasping my battered stomach with my free hand I drag in the deepest breath I can manage. It’s nowhere near deep as I’d like and my ribs protest screaming the whole time, but it gives me enough of a third wind to force myself up onto my knees at least, although I get the feeling this is the best I’m gonna manage for a while.  Gods help me trying to actually fight like this, I’m just preying that wound I gave her might prove as crippling to her right now.

Something explodes behind her and the whole courtyard lights up so bright this time that I can almost see the white flash of whatever it is through Vandryss, I swear I see her bones silhouetted through the rest of her for a split.  A beat later a great blast of wind ploughs through her from behind and she stumbles badly while I’m almost knocked right back down on my own arse again, while a great wash of displaced rainwater splashes me hard in the face and my vision’s washed out again for a moment.

Jamming Hefdred into the turf beside me, I’m able to drag myself up onto one feet, and I use my free hand to wipe my goggles clear as I focus on what’s in front of me now.  Vandryss righting herself too, and she growls something under her breath I can’t identify, although it sounds vaguely familiar enough that after a moment I recognise one of Yeslee’s Tektehran curses.  Her legs wobble for a beat, then she drops to one knee, stabbing her own sword in the ground like I’ve done to keep herself from faceplanting while her other hand splashes in the wet mud in front of her, some of it hitting her in the face. Another oath escapes her lips and she looks at me again, eyes blazing brighter than ever.

Glaring stone cold murder at me now, I reckon.

Dragging Hefdred free of the mud again, I take it up in both my hands now, holding it in a worryingly clumsy guard in front of me as I try hard not to just double over on the spot.  I’m amazed I don’t just drop the sword immediately, and when I put on the fiercest glare I can muster I’m further surprised by how solid it feels.  Thorin knows the rest of me feels like a gods-awful bluff right now …

Then the air just opens beside Vandryss and I recognise one of those inexplicable magic portals I can’t quite see, instantly replaced by a somewhat windswept, ragged form in robes, cloak and hood.  I can make out enough of their features to see they’re female, with long unruly hair under their hood, although it’s seeing the corkscrewing staff in their hands, looking somewhat splintered now as it smokes, that helps me realise who it is.  This is the best look I’ve had at their wizard, and as I’m able to make out more of their face thanks to these miraculous lenses, I realise they’re a human woman who might be approaching middle age, although she’s aging impressively well despite it.  Then again she’s got great bones, I can imagine her still looking good when she’s an old woman … if she ever gets that far, that is.

She ain’t alone, either – she’s got hold of the orc, Granzun, who’s on both knees himself, although I think that might be as much due to the fact that he’s clearly already been through it as whatever just happened behind Vandryss. His still impressive leather armour has been badly torn and shredded in various places, and a few of the blades he’s clearly been caught with even look to have drawn blood here and there, although less than I’d like.  Mostly he just seems stunned, his head lolling some while his eyes are unfocused now, and I think he’s taken a bad hit from whatever it was that, I suspect, this woman just did.  Seeing this, I realise I’m lucky to still be up, or maybe it’s just that I wasn’t as close …

“Time to go!”  The woman hisses now, laying a hand on Vandryss’ shoulder.

“What … no!”  Vandrys spits her words out with a finer spray of blood this time, but there’s no less venom than before.  “I want this puffed up bitch.”  She locks her eyes on mine again, still narrowed and blazing, and tries to get up again.

Seeing it, I try to force a little more strength into my own legs too, enough that I might be able to pick myself up enough to get my other foot under me too, but it ain’t coming.  If she does charge me now I realise it’ll be miracle enough if I can just swing my sword well enough to stop anything she might throw at me.

“Van, fight’s done, we don’t have time for this.”  The wizard hisses, looking at me now.  I can’t make out any real colours through my goggles, everything’s in slightly rosy-tinted black and white, but I can see how piercing those eyes are clear enough.  She’s a smart one, being so talented a mage as she clearly is she might even be smart as Gael.  Wouldn’t surprise me.  “I don’t think we can win this one.  Not right now.”

“What the fuck are you talking about –”  Vandryss reaches for the woman’s hand, I suspect she’s going to try shaking it off, but in that same moment she sets her staff against her shoulder while she reaches out with her other hand and lays it on the orc’s shoulder, then mutters under her breath.  They’re gone before my opponent can finish her sentence, and for a moment there’s a big empty gap in the air before the displaced rain splashes down to fill it.

For a long moment I just stay there, watching the trampled spot in the grass where they were, making sense of it in my head, then what little strength I had left in my arms finally gives out and I let Hefdred slump in front of me … moments before my legs start to give out and I just let the sword go entirely.  I just fall forward into the grass in front of me, suddenly feeling impossibly tired and so very, very sore, never mind my battered stomach.  I feel like every inch of me’s been whaled on with something big and monstrous hard.

So I just stay where I am, doubled over in the grass with my face half-pressed into the sodden ground now, just enough of my mouth clear I can sort of breathe without inhaling mud in the process.  My breath comes in a rattling wheeze, although it might just be my lungs working on my newly-cracked ribs or whatever, I don’t know … mostly it just hurts too much for me to really be sure.

A somewhat shaky hand touches my back and from somewhere far away I sort of hear a body splashing down at my side, someone dropping to their knees beside me, I think.  A voice, too, although I’m having trouble recognising it.  Words … it takes me a few moments to realise what they even mean …

“Kesla?  Kesla, are you all right?  It’s Gael, are you … oh gods … please say something …”

TO BE CONTINUED ...

[miammey]

The fact that the Hunting Dogs are basically falling apart is incredibly sad to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that they’re breaking free from the Book, even if it’s taking a bit, but it’s also incredibly heartbreaking because they all had such pride in being Hunting Dogs, or at leasts took pride in helping others.

They’re well aware of their violent actions, thought that is the exact purpose of their existence as a group (the only reason someone would be given the strength to stop bullets is if they were going to constantly be fighting people who were incredibly strong all the time), they still took their pride on protecting civilians.

Never once have they harmed an innocent civilian, at least to our knowledge (one could argue Aya, but she was never physically hurt, Jouno was most likely using that speech to slip her the note, and this is Jouno we’re talking about, he shouldn’t be used to portray the whole group). The Agency are still considered terrorists, the guards at the Sky Casino were working for an actual terrorist (or at least someone aiding in terrorism), and the bank robbers were committing a crime with hostages.

They are that Ultimate Violence working for peace, even with their conflicting personalities.

Jouno may be sadistic and cruel, but he chose protecting people over suffering, he’s still really new to this whole “being a good person” thing.

Teruko specifically stated that they must not hurt citizens at all cost. She may also be sadistic and cruel, but she is also the one that made crime rates drop on her own.

Tecchou’s views are very extreme and very black and white, only recently is he starting to see these blurred lines of grey. But in the end, his goal is still of justice, he considers his job as justice. Hopefully after this arc, he’ll find a new, better definition for this justice of his. I don’t want him to give up on it entirely.

Tachihara was the first to break out of the Book because he decided he was Mafia. But even after that, he still cared so deeply for the Hunting Dogs, he still referred to them as “us.” Don’t you dare tell me he doesn’t care for them.

Actually, on that note, don’t try and tell me they don’t care about each other. They may be mean to each other, but it rarely hits deep for any of them. Their group dynamic is one of mocking each other, and none of them seem even really too phased by it anymore. Sure, things like Teruko’s threats scare them a little, but I highly doubt Teruko would actually go through with harming her own teammate. We’ve seen them be concerned for each other, we’ve seen them act casually, even congratulate each other a couple times.

They care, and it’s sad to see this team of people who begrudgingly don’t actually wanna murder each other break up.

I personally would want them to reform the Hunting Dogs in some way after this, perhaps not with Fukuchi because he would most likely be arrested or killed (Teruko as leader??), but it just kinda breaks my heart to think that they’d never be a group again.

Alternatively, they could all join another faction together, but that’s unlikely.

Besides, I don’t think the government would be too quick to just get rid of their insanely strong group that they probably spent millions on (there is no way those enhancements aren’t crazy expensive)

This is just me rambling, I don’t even know where I planned to take this lol

[paranaturalpop]

I rate your pnat ships by how well they work as foils

I’m Professor Pops, welcome to Literature 405: comparing and contrasting in pnat ships. Love is in the air but all that really matters is narrative symmetry!

Mina and Agent Day (submitted by @anxanhh)

two women on missions who need a confidante. 

Mina is a calculating woman of science with a tender, vulnerable heart deep down that she guards. Day is a fun, giggly love goddess but beneath the surface she is just as calculating.  

They are both focused on their prospective goals to the point of subterfuge. 

They have similar missions, to solve the many mysteries of Mayview, but they’re at odds instead of working together. Will these lone wolves learn to let their walls down and work towards a common goal? 

Their spectral energies are complementary colors!!!!!!!!!!!! 

9/10 so different yet so alike. They should kiss and also develop as people.

Spendcia

Where's that post about paranatural having what my hero academia wants?

These two had interacted in cannon only once before we found out they were dating, power move on Zack’s part

The cousinhood and the consortium seem to have bad blood…. Enemies to lovers????

As teachers, Garcia is tired and phoning it in while spender is energetic and committed. But when it comes to mystery solving Spender is burning himself out while Garcia keeps him grounded.

Garcia does things like pack spender lunches with little hearts drawn on the bag but was surprised to be called his boyfriend. He acts chill but inside he is deeply invested in spender but also knows about spender’s isolating tendencies. 

8/10 there's a reason these two have been off and on again for 6ish years, they’re walking a tightrope of vulnerability.

Imaax (submitted by Rubyya)

The Destiel of Paranatural. No I will not elaborate.

Here’s a pnat history lesson, the original ship name was Maxaac, but Zack weighed in on twitter with a much better alternative: Imaax. Also sometimes called Team Lightning Rod. 

Black and blue colors, just like the emotional bruises they leave on the people around them. 

Isaac wants to be seen as heroic and Max wants to be seen as aloof. It presents in different ways but deep down they both really care what other people think.

They both fear sincerity. Isaac protects himself with theatrics and Max with sarcasm. 

Isaac puts on a big show of having strong ethics but he’s a little mean on instinct. Max puts on a big show of cutting people down with his snark and devil-may-care attitude, but when push comes to shove he’s kind and cares how other people feel. 

Max immediately insults every person he meets and they still want to be best friends with him, while Issac tries so hard to be cool and nice but people just can’t stand him. 

The meta tension between Isaac, who wants so badly to be the protagonist, and Max “magnetic personally” Puckett who is exhausted with being the protagonist, is delicious. 

There’s a reason official art tends to portray them together. They bring out the best in each other. Isaac brakes through Max’s performative pessimism and Max brings Isaac down to earth. 

10/10 these two were written as a pair and it shows.

Suzabel (submitted by Rubyya)

One of my fav tropes is ‘enemies to friends’ where the enemy part is completely one-sided. Isabel probably thinks she and Suzy get along great. 

Both the heads of their respective clubs, but with very different leadership styles. 

Isabel only studies her grandfather's spectral style to please him and is a near master of it, while Suzy is incredibly self-motivated even though her actual skills are lacking. 

Isabel is at a crucial time in her life where she’s learning to distance herself from adult authority figures in order to take on more personal responsibility. Suzy is already blazing with independence and could help her adjust. 

Inversely, Isabel could teach Suzy a thing or two about treating your club members with respect and doing the emotional labor necessary to prevent future conflict. 

Red and pink! Valentines colors! 

Isabel could kill you but would never, Suzy would actually try to kill you. 

Investigative reporter/person living mysterious double life is a great dynamic.

Back when Izzy had Eightfold they had the ship name ‘Paper Girls’ which is awesome

7/10 Don’t ask me how I know this but they would kill at karaoke together. And they’re ok foils.

Bullymagnet

Max ‘too cool for clubs’ vs a boy who defines himself by his tight knit group. 

Max is learning to be less passive aggressive and johnny is learning to be less aggressive aggressive. 

Max’s entry to spectral life was when he injured Johnny and saw a shade of a doctopi on him, and Johnny's first shade was Max's doctopi after the hit ball game. 

Johnny refuses to commit to not bullying max anymore even though he really likes him, and max is working on being nicer but he’s still gonna be snarky with people even though they’re his friends. Old habits die hard. 

If he hadn't seen that shade, Max might have joined Johnny's gang. He has the style, the stunts, the snark. 

8/10 Just two bros whose lives are changing forever.

Isaac and Dimitri (submitted by Rubyya)

Here’s my pitch for a ship name: Brainstorm

Orange and blue are complementary colors. 

Isaac hurt Dimitri accidentally somehow. Hurting others accidentally is the central theme of chapter 5. 

Idealist/pragmatist is a classic dynamic

They both have relationships with their spirit partners that are rooted in fear. 

Dimitri’s self concept is overly dependent on his sense of intellectual superiority, and Isaac’s on ethical superiority. 

7/10 have not directly interacted in the comic yet but the narrative symmetry is there

Johnny and Isabel (submitted by Rubyya)

Burnhound Vs Shockadile

These two are natural leaders who know how to treat their friends with respect.

These jocks are both lethal weapons, but while Isabel is a master martial artist, Johnny is a passionate but blunt instrument.

They’re both going through similar identity crises.

Isabel is struggling to reconcile her violent and disciplined upbringing with a good, gentle heart and Johnny is trying to reconcile his violent and self-centered lifestyle with a developing respect and empathy for other people.

Johnny dies his hair red, so he would think it’s cool how Izzy emits a fiery red aura when excited.

8/10 there's a reason these two were the team leaders in the hit ball arch.

Violet and Lisa (submitted by Rubyya)

People have been theorizing about what kind of cryptid Lisa is since day one meanwhile Violet gives off big normie energy.

Lisa is very plugged into all the Mayview weirdness as the queen of the school underground, while Violet was the only person who thought to go get a teacher during the hit ball arch. Lisa was also the only one who really spoke openly about how something was clearly very wrong with Jeff, everyone else talked around it and played by the so called ‘rules’. Lisa’s secret brokering Vs. Violet’s ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant’ attitude presents two different approaches to trying to survive in a school run by a mysterious shadow organization within a town that contains several other mysterious shadow organizations.

“If you were, I’d have to be jealous too.” just two middle schoolers pinning over their crushes.

7/10 two girls against the world.

Isaac and Johnny

ship name: Firestorm?

Just 2 fiery redheaded mediums with anger management issues that command primal forces and wanna be best friends with max

Johnny chooses to have red spiky hair, Issac has had red spiky hair thrust upon him.

Both met Maxwell Pucket and decided they needed to change for the better.

I’ve said this before but Johnny and Issac have equal and opposite philosophies. Johnny doesn't care about the greater good, he just cares about a small group of people who he loves. Issac cares about the greater good, but can’t connect with individuals and ends up hurting them. Together they form one GoodTM boy.

Both their spirit partners want revenge on Spender. This spells trouble.

If there’s anyone to teach Isaac about unconditional friendship, it’s Johnny

Isaac has sworn off violence and Johnny worships at the altar of it.

9/10 they’ve only interacted in canon once so far but I’ve think we’ve got a big storm coming.

Suzy and Collin (submitted by Rubyya)

The Bakudeku of pnat. I will continue to not elaborate.

Suzy once stole Collin's phone which prompted Collin to try to cut her hair which prompted Suzy to stab Collin and at no point did either of them think to move to a different bus seat. As different as they are they are also very much the same.

Collin is the definition of mouth service (constantly disapproving of suzy’s antics but going along with it anyway.) while suzy is all action.

Despite their different attitudes they both seem genuinely passionate about the journalism club.

Fashion icons. Suzy’s sunglasses and legwarmers, Collins sweater vests and wrist bands, this duo could walk for Paris fashion week: middle school edition.

We’ve gotten an indication that Collin cares a lot about what Suzy thinks of him (taking off his wrist bands when she made fun of Max's) but we haven't gotten any sign yet that the feelings are mutual.

5/10 I think their story is yet to be told and we’ll get to know more about how they compare/contrast to each other in the future. Maybe brought on by Dimitri's betrayal?????

Cody and Isabel (Submitted by @a-bitchtm)

Cody is gay by WOG but that doesn't matter here since we are evaluating thematic compatibility, not romantic compatibility.

Red Vs. Blue

Izzy’s arch about stepping into her role as leader through communication and honesty contrasts Cody’s role as the secret class president. Izzy finally told Isaac the truth about the consortium, while Cody blatantly lied to max about being president.

Both seem to have generally good motivations and the skills/talent to back those motivations up.

Isabel is in the process of unlearning the ‘firm hand’ philosophy that she learned from her grandpa and Cody’s dad straight up tried to mind control him into murdering a toddler.

They were both taught to fall back on their capacity for violence and intimidation but those teachings conflict with the people they really want to be.

6/10 just two kids who are being led astray by authority figures trying to learn to be themselves.

Cody and Collin (Submitted by @gatortavern)

They both like vests.

Both beholden to blood thirsty predators

Collin is a journalist, Cody is a vampire/leader of the shadow government. It’s a huge power move on Cody’s part to hang out with Collin.

Cody’s support of his friends is enthusiastic while Collin would have you believe Suzy has kidnapped him.

4/10 they hang out for a reason but those reasons have yet to be fully developed

Isabel and Max (submitted by @Paranatural-goofiness)

They’re both people who have learned to put up walls to keep people out. Isabel through violence and intimidation, max through sarcasm and mockery. T

he other side of this is their mutual journey to let their walls down and connect with other people more genuinely, starting with each other.

Their search for acceptance and identity has led them both to become incredible athletes. Spectral fist martial arts = shred eagle stunts

As we saw in the hit ball game, Izzy faces things head on while Max is all about evasion. However we’ve seen how Izzy has actually learned to be evasive and guarded about her feelings while Max is a little more forthcoming.

8/10  Never has there been faster friends.

Isaac and Cody (submitted by Rubyya)

Drama kings

Isaac wants the likability Cody has.

Parallels of power: Isaac with power he didn't choose and cant control vs. Cody who also didn’t choose to have his power (elected), but wields it like an instrument.

Involuntary anime hair and involuntary glowing monster eyes

These two definitely both fall under the category of “lawful”.

I can see these two ending up on opposite sides of a conflict because they both have such rigid personal codes and an intense sense of duty.

I know I’ve been approaching almost all of these platonically but Isaac probably really wants a cool vampire boyfriend deep down

 7/10 Unstoppable force, meet immovable object. You two should watch anime together.

Hijack and PJ (submitted by @gatortavern)

They both wanna join the activity club so bad

Both have immature ideas about heroism and villainy. 

Both aspire to heroism while at the same time understanding that they aren't that yet and maybe never will be. 

They both, like many people in this comic, wanna be friends with max.  

5/10 Two supernatural babies who should play wii sports together

Stephen and Isaac (@Gatortavern)

Two boys who are easily overwhelmed

Lawful vs. chaotic

Isaac has enough secrets to give Stephen his conspiracy fix for a long time. 

In their own ways they both just want everything out in the open. 

Isaac is Stephen's dream, someone actually living a secret double life, and Stephen is Issac's dream, someone with a cool scar who would think he’s actually very interesting. 

5/10 these two are both very intense in their own way.

Johnny and Ed (Submitted by @theevilbrainman)

Two souls lost in the wind

Two people for whom friendship and loyalty is central to their character, and they’re both struggling with personal growth because of it. Johnny is afraid to change because his friends have always liked the person he already is, and Ed is struggling to even define himself outside of Isabel, the person he cares about the most. 

Both impulsive and uninhibited. 

They both live lives free from expectation. Johnny’s wild bully persona means no one is surprised by his antics or cruelty, while Grandpa Guerra doesn't really care if Ed takes up phantom fist like Isabel. He actually calls him a freeloader. Not having much expected of you can feel free but it’s also lonely and can warp your self-perception. 

6/10 these two crossed paths at exactly the right time.

I didn't cover every submission because even though only 9 people submitted you sent in 34 ships between you. Pnat’s fanbase is small but very dedicated. 

Honorable mentions: 

Johnny and clear sinuses, submitted by @gaul-the-unmitigated

Isaac and therapy, submitted by both @squidgeons and @somethingfishysgoingon

PJ and Johnny, submitted by @gatortavern, who seems to be under the impression that Johnny Would protect PJ and not destroy him just by breathing near him.

Day and Scabs, submitted by @gatortavern, because funny.

Special thanks to everyone who sent in ship between people who have never interacted in cannon, which was a lot of you. My eyes are opened now, so many possibilities.

[itsnothingofinterest]

I’ve often said that it seems like a lot of the main pros below All Might seem to end up representing serious flaws in hero society; specifically the ones on the hero side of things. So as a fun little exercise I thought I’d go over all those main pros and what flaws they represent (should be easy, they’re usually their own personal character flaws). Maybe also give my assessment to what I think their chances of living to the end of the series are while I’m at it, since representing serious flaws in the old guard can be hazardous to your health if treated poorly.

Endeavor

A man who needs no introduction if you’re any kind of HeroAca fan. love or hate him, everyone knows the new no.1.

Funnily enough, he’s actually the main exception to the rule we mentioned before about a pros’ character flaw being the flaw they thematically represent. See, his character flaw is that he focus so much on heroics, his career in heroics, or just his own general needs over his family; to the point that he only had a family to have children he could live vicariously though, and felt no obligation to love the ones he couldn’t live through. What he represents, is actually two-fold: 1) the toxicity of the ranking system which makes heroics so competitive and encourage heroes focus on some arbitrary number, and 2) the power heroes have that let them do horrible things and get away with it. They’re connected concepts, for sure, but not exactly synonymous.

And with that said, what are his chances of survival? Well, the ranking toxicity is out of his hands, but besides that...it can be hard to tell. He has, under semi-aggressive guidance of his family, publicly taken responsibility for the things he’s done and vowed to make up for it; which helps his chances considerably. But in that same scene he also said that the only way he can atone is to keep doing what he’s always done; beat up villains and at least 1 family member. It sends a mixed message. But in general; I want to say that he’s gotten enough development that he doesn’t feel set to fail his arc now. I’d be tempted to say his chances look pretty good...were it not for all the separate reasons I think he’s likely to die anyway. Oh well, no one’s situation can be perfect.

Hawks

The controversial hero; Hawks!

I’ve summarized Hawks’ main flaw before as ‘hubris’, partially because he’s an Icarus figure so generalizing it like that feels clever, but it’s a bit more complex than that. Hawks main flaw isn’t so much pride as it is self-righteousness. Hawks represents the belief that everything is just right as it is, and the status quo must therefore be protected at all costs. A denial that the heroes he believes in have done anything wrong even after staring their mistakes in the face and spending months talking with those the heroes failed. In fact to contrast Endeavor’s line to the press; Hawks tried to excuse what he did as though it had to be done. That’s the opposite of promising.

With that said, what are his chances of survival? Well, I’d actually put him at 50/50 odds; since I see 2 endings for him, and it’s too early to tell which is more likely. See, while we’ve only got two instances of a “pattern,” Hawks seems like a guy who falls to the ground, recovers and gets back up, only to fall even further down because he never learns. So his two futures are either: A) To actually learn. Take a fall so hard that in the aftermath, he can’t convince himself he was right all along. Maybe he gets Endeavor killed, or does something to sever their relationship. Something that’d force him to self-reflect. B) To take a fall so hard it proves fatal; his mistakes catching up to him in a way that doesn’t give him a chance to self-reflect.

Best Jeanist

Sir Long Neck McImagine Obsession himself.

Best Jeanist represents the self-interest in hero society can have over justice itself. Already known for being focused on superficial image; he’s dramatic reappearance revealed just how deep that went. For when it’s revealed by a villain that a hero has committed great crimes that ended up motivating that villain’s actions; Jeanist’s immediate concern was the damage this would do to the reputation of heroes. More than what kind of person he’s been working alongside, and even more than saving lives, Jeanist’s first thought went the wellbeing of the industry he works in and how bad they would collectively look to the public; that’s what he’s most angry at Dabi for.

Chances of survival are...maybe 40-50%? There’s no real leaning one way or another frankly, so that kind of feels like it’d put him at even odds for the exact opposite reason as Hawks. Will he live? Will he die? Who can say? Leaning just a bit towards death though, because again, representing flaws in the old guard can be hazardous to your health.

Mirko

And here we have the violent one.

While I’m tempted to lump this one with Hawks, I actually think Ms.Mirko represents the heroes use of incredible violence best. See, Mirko is someone who really likes to beat people up, even once in a spin-off said Bakugou’s drive to murder was a good thing in a hero. And while she won’t even feel the need to kill like Hawks apparently did, her response to fighting the High End Nomu was something like “finally, some villains I get to just kill with no ethical issues, that makes things easy”. (Which, considering the High Ends are sentient is, um, hmm). Her love of violence borders on villainous, and she freely admits it is simple obligation that prevents her from crossing that boundary. It’s reminiscent of when Shigaraki pondered what the difference really was between heroes’ & villains’ violence. And, well, if it closes the gap in morality between heroes and villains, it’s going on this list.

Regarding her chances of survival, like Jeanist she’s not exactly defined enough to really say anything for sure or end up on any extreme end; I’ve no real reason to think she’s very likely live or die. That said; on the one hand she seems a bit more eagerly reveling in the flaw she represents, plus a blood knight getting back into the fight after sustaining heavy injuries is never a good sign. On the other hand, Horikoshi clearly likes her for reasons we won’t address here. I think I’m gonna average it out to 50%. Maybe even 60%.

Kamui Woods & Mt. Lady

You wouldn’t think some of the most plain as bread heroes would be joining the ranks of the problematic, and in fairness that’s because they mostly aren’t, but they are the ones who best represent a serious issues with heroes. They represent the way heroes will focus on flashiness & the problems they cause/exasperate in the process. Misconduct performed in the quest for fame; in so many words. Kamui showed this in chapter 1; calling a giant purse snatcher “evil incarnate” because that villain was attention grabbing and disturbing the peace. This is especially noticeable in hindsight, after we’ve see some real problems heroes could be dealing with but aren’t; like lost children on their way to becoming villains. And Mt. Lady represent it by how she operates in a big city despite her powers really working better for more rural or neighborly environments; because city work makes her more popular and rakes in the cash (that she loses paying for repairs).

That said, even if those are flaws I feel are highly associated with them, none of that is stuff they’re actively involved in; they’re naïve at best, and have already improved considerably (for minor characters at least) into better heroes. Frankly speaking, their changes of survival are probably averaging at 85% (80% for Kamui, 90% for Mt.). Like, they’re not gag characters per se; but they’re not super serious characters, they’re not connected to the MCs in any real way, and they don’t knowingly contribute to any of society’s corruptions. Really, so long as big H doesn’t really want to off someone we know for a shock, they’re probably fine.

Gran Torino

And lastly, the only non-big shot on the list, the unpleasant old geezer himself; Gran Torino!

What GT represents better than any other, I think, is the idea of passing any blame a hero may have for the actions/very existence of a villain on to the villain in question, thus allowing the heroes to better absolve themselves. You know like how with Shigaraki, he ignores any fault he has with that guys’ existence and simplifies him down to a criminals they can only beat down; and how dare he exist and thereby hurt Toshinori’s feelings. On that note, I’d say he also represents the idea that the villains are what they are, they’re too far gone, and there’s nothing the heroes can do about it. The most convenient excuse to not ever have to try to make up for what they did wrong, which you can’t even blame them too much for because they “tried their best” (even if they really didn’t).

So, what are his odds? Well frankly I wanna put him at 0% just cause he’s so old that if a villain doesn’t get him, time will. But that’s cheating. In actuality, it’s hard to say; dude’s a stubborn old man, and it really feels like it will depend on his ability to admit how wrong he handled things regarding Tomura. Now admittedly, he did admit to making the wrong choice in handling Kotaro, but he’s said nothing of Tomura so far. For now I’ll put him at 30%, but we’ll have to see if he sticks to his guns regarding current events next time he talks with All Might or whoever to really get a gasp on his chances.

And that’s about all the big ones so we’ll wrap it up. Anyway the point is it feels like a lot of heroes are gonna need to get their acts together lest they risk coming down with Not Alive Syndrome sometime in the future.

[loving-villanelle]

Hey, do you have any advice on how to write to the BBC about KE? I wanna help but I'm useless at writing emails 😅

I'll include my email below. Please feel free to use as inspiration, but I ask that you don't just copy and paste. 1) I think it's important for people to get their own thoughts/feelings on the matter out and 2) I don't want us sending them form letters, they should be unique. But again, feel free to use it for some ideas!

I am reaching out to express concerns I have about the Killing Eve series finale. I am deeply troubled by the fact that a groundbreaking series like Killing Eve perpetuated the harmful trope of BYG. What is most frustrating is that this was a well-executed finale centered around the main characters until they decided to pull one of the most disgusting sequences I’ve ever seen and dared to call it art. Every detail of this ending was downright cruel. Tragedy for tragedy’s sake is not good storytelling. Sad endings can have heart, and this was unoriginal, brutal and crushingly vile. What’s even more troubling are the comments from the producer and show runner after the fact, describing this death as a “rebirth”, as though Villanelle's death was justified and the love between herself and Eve was a sin that needed to be absolved.

To be clear, no one is saying that it is not possible to write the death of a queer character, but it takes a lot of care and respect and must be done in a way that shows it is necessary to the story. An out of nowhere sniper attack that resulted in Villanelle being shot in the arms of the woman she loves and Eve screaming in agony as she watches her bullet ridden, bloody body disappear into the abyss served no purpose other than gross shock value. It’s not acceptable to FINALLY let two queer characters experience happiness, only to immediately kill one of them. It’s the same old song and dance of queer women find happiness then immediately suffer a horrific fate. This is a tired and harmful trope that has been perpetuated for far too long. It is astounding to me that we are still having this conversation in 2022. There was no victory in this death, only victimization. There was no meaning, only shock value.

The final minutes of the finale were heartless and used a harmful and tired trope carelessly. It was a slap in the face to Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh, who poured their hearts and souls into these characters and through their incredible talent built a devoted fanbase, it was a slap in the face to the characters of Villanelle and Eve, whose 4 season journey was discarded and thrown to the side like it meant nothing, and it was a slap in the face to the fanbase, who have spent years supporting the show and are partially responsible for it’s success. This has been traumatic for the queer community given the long history of meaningless violence committed against queer characters, who right after finding happiness end up losing their life only moments later. However, the backlash against the finale goes beyond the queer community. It is widespread across all demographics, and with Killing Eve being an international show, it is also worldwide.

This is unacceptable and the fact that it has been a week with zero comment from Laura Neal, Sally Woodward Gentle, AMC, or BBC America is just as unacceptable. You are under no obligation to pander to audiences, but you do have an obligation to support responsible storytelling and this was anything but that. You have lost my business until you take a firm stand and condemn Killing Eve for perpetuating the harmful (and TIRED) BYG trope. Until AMC and it's networks does this, I will be encouraging everyone I know to cancel their subscriptions and stay away from any AMC/BBC productions. Please take the first step and do the right thing by speaking out and FIX THIS. Condemn this harmful trope and hold Killing Eve/Sid Gentle Films accountable.

Thank you.

[peechbea]

@yukiteruakari said: Ooooh I wanna know more about your headcanons :>>

idk if you meant abt the fic or Leon in general but i’m using this opportunity to ramble anyway, rip-

right off the bat, i hc that Leon’s mother died during childbirth and his father was devastated about it, but in order to support himself and Leon, he moved in with his brother and sister-in-law. since Leon grew up in the same house as Kanon, that's why he views her as more of a sister than a cousin

this is one i’ve already talked about here BUT, i hc Leon’s real name to be Kazuo Kuwata, but that’s also his father’s name, so before he changed his name, people called his father by his name and then they called Leon “Kazzy” or “Kaz”

( hearing people call Kazuichi “Kaz” still throws him for a loop )

he doesn’t like violence actually!! he’s temperamental and snarky sometimes, but he’ll avoid violence whenever he can, unless he has to, yknow,,,defend himself, just in case that would ever happen lol-

to add onto the above, i also like to think he stays far away from violence because he didn’t as a kid and it landed him in juvie ( which i also like to think is where he met Mondo briefly, but neither of them really remember each other )

and to add onto THAT, while he will avoid throwing a punch if he can, he will absolutely intervene if other people are getting hurt. even at the risk of his own safety, he’ll be the diversion so the original victim can escape bc, unlike the victim, he actually CAN defend himself if he needs to

in the game, it’s quickly brushed over but they mention breakfast meetings and after Toko says she’s never had breakfast with anyone before, Leon also joins in and says that it’s “been a while for him too”, so i like to think he USED to have breakfast with his family a lot as a kid, but then when tensions grew between him and his dad, he eventually stopped showing up altogether

the hair stylist he talks about in his FTE is actually an ultimate and a good friend of his and her name is Kaori, but they only really talked in the time Leon attended Hope’s Peak so he forgot her name by the time the KG rolled around

his hair is actually brown and surprisingly wavy, he just slathers it in hair gel to keep it upright

to add onto the above, Kazuo has blonde hair and green eyes while Leon has brown hair and blue eyes, which are both traits of his mother. the fact that he looks so much like her yet keeps changing his appearance is another thing that pisses his dad off, mans never coped with her death properly

this one may get a little long, but bear with me: when he and Kanon were kids, his dad was incredibly closed off emotionally, his uncle was VERY busy, and his aunt always felt like she was trying to be his mom and he didn’t really like that, i like to believe there wasn’t really anyone for he or Kanon to go to if there was a problem. so, in order to be the big brother figure he believed Kanon wanted him to be, he shoved his own emotions and problems way down and focused on helping her instead. since he was really the only person who ever cared for her or tried to support her, that’s why she got way too attached to him. he just didn’t realize how bad it was until they got older, and he feels bad about possibly cutting her off because there’s no one else for her to go to.

thanks to how he grew up, he is INCREDIBLY closed off and doesn’t like showing his emotions to anyone because helping people is HIS job, he can’t have people help him if they see him break, that’s not how it works 

AND ANOTHER THING, since he often felt alone as a kid, he sought out attention from other people, so he thrived on the approval that baseball gave him. eventually, he kind of got addicted to that attention and would seek it out in any way he could. he quickly found out that bad attention often kept people talking about him more often than good attention did, so he built up a reputation as a player even though he was never really interested in girls to begin with

( speaking of, i do think he is homoromantic/pansexual, if that clears up any confusion there might’ve been rip )

he's also just, really good at masking how he feels?? like, i could look at his behavior in chapter 1 as just something to make the game run smoothly, but i wanna look at it like this: Leon is panicking, he's stressed because he committed a murder that he JUST found out he's going to have to try and get away with, and yet his behavior doesn't even change. he wears his usual mask, makes his usual comments, still has the balls to be kind of an ass to Toko, and all this while he's probably crumbling inside. he has had so long to cover his feelings, man-

also?? he will always introduce himself as “Leon Kuwata”, but when he’s alone and talks to himself out loud, he still refers to himself as Kazuo

despite being an extrovert, he's still incredibly anxious, and that extends to public outings!! because of this, he's developed a kind of code for his friends so they know what he needs since words don't always work. a tug to someone's sleeve means "i need a second to calm down", two tugs means "i'm uncomfortable" or "i don't like this conversation/what's happening", and three means "my social battery is out" or "i need to leave ASAP"

the clip on his jacket and all those rings + his necklace??? they're there for show, mans has ADHD he needs stuff to fidget with

sometimes his brain is on autopilot and his thoughts mix with that autopilot, which sucks when he has to sign autographs. there’s been times where he’s signed things as “Kazuo Kuwata” and just prayed no one mentioned it

he doesn't trust easily!! not because he doubts people's intentions, but because he can't be sure they won't try to 1) use his fame to propel themselves upwards or 2) help him with his problems, which circles back to an earlier point. he loves to be seen but god forbid anyone understand him

his wikipedia page? nearly empty. it has his feats and public information on it, but stuff like his birthday or his real name aren't correct. the part where it would mention his life story & background is completely blank. he's also edited his height to say 6'0" ( ~182 cm ), this is not true, his shoes just give him a little extra height

 this one is just self indulgent but i like to think he’s drawn to Byakuya because he has his entire life planned out for him and has for a long time, meanwhile Leon has no idea what he wants to settle on for sure and is anxious/stressed but Byakuya never seems to be like that. he always seems cool and collected, and as Leon’s polar opposite, it’s only natural that he’s drawn to him

[gayregis]

do you have any examples of the witcher subverting common fantasy tropes? (other than the obvious like ciri being the chosen one but doing evil actions, the male lead being a pacifist etc) i like the books but i have friends who don't wanna read it bc they think it's just another generic fantasy story based off the netflix trailer, i obviously am not gonna force them to read it if they absolutely don't want to but it always hurts when good works go unnoticed because of misinformation

okay!! i won’t give book quotes for this one, this is just off the top of my head, because i think including quotes would take a really long time and wouldn’t helo the point. also there’s probably things i missed here

geralt 

tropes: Icy Cold Killer / Witches Stealing Kids

actuality: is a very emotional man who was born into his profession of killing and never had a choice in the matter. doesn’t want to kill for a living, is a pacifist at heart. adopts ciri because he truly is a good father and loves her and eventually teaches her witcher skills so she has a form of self-defense.

yennefer

trope: Bitchy Witch

actuality: sincerely selfless woman who risks her life multiple times to save her child from harm, does many things to save her lover, only seems bitter and closed off to the most of the world because she has been hurt by everyone she knows and doesn’t let everyone in.

ciri

tropes: Prissy Princess / Chosen One

actuality: she is a princess for approx. 1.2 seconds and then she loses everything she’s ever known, and will continue to lose everything she’s ever known. 

as the chosen one, her powers don’t help her much, she’s super powerful but still super vulnerable and her life continues to be shit - she loses everything again because of her powers, which make her a target. everyone is after her for her powers, she’s the macguffin of the story, she’s been reduced to the holy grail because of them. being the chosen one is more of a curse than a blessing.

dandelion

tropes: The Coward / The Freeloader / Slovenly Bastard

actuality: okay yeah he’s all of these things never mind he demonstrates incredible bravery and loyalty (doing something even though you’re scared to death to do it is bravery), he keeps being by geralt’s side not as a nuisance or a leech, but because geralt genuinely needs him there as his best friend.

milva

trope: The Girl of the Company

actuality: isn’t just there to be sexy while shooting arrows, is not a love interest to any of the main male characters, literally just exists in the company as a woman and no one is creepy towards her because of it. pregnancy arc is handled relatively well and she is given actual story and emotions of her own instead of being reliant on any male characters for developent

regis

trope: Every Single Vampire Trope Ever (esp. being heartless/part of an evil organization)

actuality: “the epitome of humanity,” is a healer/medic/surgeon whose profession it is to preserve life, is kind and acts with goodwill. 

the vampires in the witcher don’t drink blood to survive like hungry beasts or out of evil cultlike activities, but instead it’s like alcohol to them and they face the same social issues as humans surrounding it. also of course every other vampire trope is broken, like sunlight, garlic, wooden stakes, running water, religious symbols...

cahir

trope: Evil Soldier of Darkness

actuality: he is a young man who was manipulated by his family and his society into service of an imperialist nation, he never wanted to cause harm to ciri but raher just sought honor for his family. he then spends the entire rest of the saga redeeming himself.

angouleme

trope: Shitty Orphan Does Crime For Fun

actuality: she’s an extremely young woman who has faced abuse her entire life and has stolen and killed out of pure survival. she is actually a genuinely good person and warns geralt of the attempt on his and his company’s lives.

the sorceresses who were on thanedd and of the lodge

trope: Vain Women Get Nothing Done And Only Think About Men

actuality: 10 insanely powerful women form a powerful political cabal, at least one is a lesbian, they unanimously decide to bar the organization from men because they speak about how men are too emotional and can’t be trusted, they are capable and dangerous as an organization and would have succeeded if not for freak accidents.

witchers in general

trope: godless fiends who thrive on violence

actuality: they were created as a profession to eliminate monsters as being threats to humans, but the threat of monsters has faded and now finding work is more difficult than ever.

sorceresses in general

trope: witches steal kids

actuality: sorceresses take in unwanted daughters, from families who gave them up, and if they show magical prowess they continue to be trained

the striga (princess adda)

trope: Horrific Monster

actuality: a 14 year old girl who has been mistreated all of her life

a grain of truth

story: beauty & the beast

actuality: the real beast is the beauty who tries to rip her boyfriend’s head off

the lesser evil

story: snow white & the seven dwarves

actuality: snow white is no princess, she has been forced into a life of killing which she has become comfortable with

the last wish (heading into the bounds of reason)

trope: love at first sight

actuality: electrocute your ass at first sight, yennefer and geralt fight in the last wish, and after they fall in love date for 4 years they inevitably break up again because love at first sight doesn’t exist and they’re both too immature to hold a sincere relationship until much later

the bounds of reason

story: a peasant can kill a dragon, dragons are beasts that attack villages

actuality: you’d need professionals to kill a dragon, and also the dragons were trying to protect their child and are sentient, intelligence, respectable, and beautiful creatures.

dudu

trope: Evil Doppleganger

actuality: dopplers are incapable of being evil, they mimic forms to survive in this world dominated by violent humans.

the aen seidhe

trope: Elves Are Pretty Boys Who Don’t Do Violence

actuality: these pretty boys do a lot of violence. they kill humans because humans have usurped nearly all of their territory and pushed them out.

the aen elle

trope: Elves Are Pretty Boys Who Don’t Do Violence

actuality: these pretty boys do a lot of violence. they’re colonizers and slavers who take over entire worlds.

unicorns

trope: Unicorns Are Pretty And Docile Creatures

actuality: unicorns and elves have been at war, unicorns are incredibly intelligent and sentient and are their own civilization

nilfgaard

trope: Evil Empire

actuality: it is an imperialist nation, thus it is evil, but there are many nilfgaardian POVs throughout the saga which demonstrate that even though they are committing atrocities they are still very much human. they’re not faceless evil.

geralt’s company

trope: Grand Quest To Save The World

actuality: geralt in the saga, i think as one of the sorceresses said, is just running around lost, getting upset. geralt running around with his gathered company in the wilderness is not a grand march towards power or fame, but rather the journey of how geralt becomes a better person and a better father, he finally accepts help, he finally becomes a leader.

the quest doesn’t concern power or being a grand hero, it’s not a beautiful march. it’s a bunch of idiots traipsing through the forests, grasslands, and marches, trying to dry out their boots and footwraps because the ground is muddy. 

the goal of the quest is not to save the world or find great power or complete a prophecy or save a desperate lover, but rather to just get geralt’s daughter back. his daughter. because he loves her and wants her to be safe. that’s all.

you can’t step two inches in the witcher without breaking a trope. they’re strewn everywhere, like crackers on the sidewalk. step, step. now the pigeons are eating the crumbs

i think largely you have to look at sapkowski’s personal history with writing and fantasy bc iirc he was a scholar or something about arthurian legend and also he was influenced by many polish folktales

[meeraria]

Hii, I'm so shy asking this but I read somewhere you have a list of upstead moments, would you share it with me? If it's not too much 🙈

I am very sorry I just saw this!! I hope you haven’t sent this a long time ago. I’ve finished the last season recently but I haven’t done this one yet. and pls don’t be shy!! I am so happy you asked. not many people like them.

I don’t have time stamps just some shorthand notes to remind me of the scene. and every instance they call each other by their names (I had this idea to gif them or make a video etc.) but all the moments are in chronological order so if you see the third moment before the first one when you’re watching an episode that means you skipped the first two. the list is under the cut.

ps. there might be some other moments that I liked that are not necessarily upstead.

4x21 first time at the back of a van

4x22 jay on haileys desk

        erin is the one who calls her hailey for the first time

4x23 hailey meets will

        hailey looks after jay when he leaves

5x01 jay touches hailey on the shoulder for bust

        hailey calls him jay for the first time, to Kev and Ruz

        look at each other at the hospital

        if you need anything

deleted scene: jay I got your back. he is quick to escape her. pats her back. she respects. he’s with his brother

5x02 looks at jay when he starts lying to suspect

        sits on her desk

        jay checks out hailey in the interrogation room

        jay calls him upton. for the first time

5x03 they open doors to cupboard at the same time

        butchers blade-look to each other

5x04 sb assumes hailey is ruzek’s gf

        stops a witness from prosecuting ruzek

        ruzek calls her hailey cause he thinks she’s gonna snitch, jay tries to stop him

5x05 hailey puts her hand on jay’s shoulder jay looks and she recants

        they save the kids look at each other

5x06 Le Snob (he’s not in love yet-doesnt look at her)

        jay brings her jacket

        mcgrady you run the log hailey they look at each other

        their hands touch when jay gives her the camera

        j: is this really about the case? h:see u 2morrow

        jay(grabs her shoulder): u sure u ok? let me know if you need anything

        how’supton? jay: idunno  

5x07 look at each other to open door

        voight: you got a take hailey? neutral

        microphone up (first time saying jay 2hisface)

        looks at hailey so she’d start the fight

        iknowwhathesaw, was what u said true. jay is pissed

        first fight: voight says hailey. she denies jay’s request

        jayx4 points the gun at her

        hailey calls him, he rolls eyes

5x08 first time calls her hailey (don’t need no babysitter)

5x09 hailey texts him, rolls eyes

        I’ll stay with the suspect hailey

        big potato talk (she’s driving)

        flirty let’s check out his alibi

        he looked at her and then they look at each other but it’s fast (questioning junkie)

        they take a selfie, he puts arm around her she wants to but stops herself

5x10* camila episode

        introduces her as hailey - but she’s gay

        we’re gonna talk about her, now (calls her jay) I’m fine lie.

        you can’t talk to her - jay you’re not thinking straight

        thinks she betrayed her

        “back off jay”

         looks at him over camila’s shoulder

         they look at each other - after camilla’s dismissal

         hailey is worried about him

         she threatens camilla, saying I - his real name is jay x2

5x11 if you’re not serious I need a new partner (shoulder tap)

        he wants back to therapy cause of ultimatum

5x12 “jay come back.” platt’s birthday (shoulder punch)- lookateachother

         he uses her desk like he doesn’t have one

         she pushes jays back to get to voight

         they’re hiding together

5x13  look at each other at restaurant

         how’s therapy going?

         “jay!” - spots the suspects

5x14  flag dispute

        look each other when they get shots fired

        sits on hailey’s desk

        I used to be a soldier-looks at hailey x2

        she admires that he respects the kneeler

5x15 she puts arm on his shoulder

        sits on hailey’s desk about q

        italian guy flirting, women are more loyal then men

        jay, you got her?

5x16 bomb-she falls down he grabs her

       he sitting on her desk

       cF(6x13) calls her to ask about voight

5x17 he’s sitting on her desk

        uh-oh i just saw a rat arm tap

5x18* titus episode: jay also calls adam ruz?

        how do u know this guy?

        looks after she explains

        i pitch jay as a potential buyer

        you look like a real couple

        hailey, thought he bit but

        you were hailey’s case officer, she’s my partner

        hailey, we gotta talk about this, did he rape you

        i can handle this jay- I said the same thing u called me out (shoulder tap)

        touches her arm, booth notices

        he asked me if i slept with her,

        hailey you’re way too emotional

        jay: me too. hailey’s solid,hailey’s gonna callme

        he reaches for his gun when booth gets handsy with her

        5 time hailey, please (grabs her shoulder)

        looks after her when arresting

        comes to her house, hailey u got him

        two deletes scenes: therapy is over

        you’re incredibly aloof about your private life

5x19 sitting on hailey’s desk, gives her jacket

        looks at homeless jay

        saves her life, you good? good.

5x20 look at each other during shootout

        talk about erin

5x21 he and kevin fight and she calms them

        h:I just talked to halstead

        sarge if you need sth - she’s same to everyone

        he’s sitting on her desk

5x22 hank x trudy hug (personal ship)

        jay comes back from crying grabs her shoulder, she grabs his hand

        jay sits on her desk

deleted scene: pushes her out of line of fire

6x01 trudy comes to see hank (personal ship)

        “jay” go be undercover junkie

         gets his jacket to him

6x02 look at each other in morgue

        she uses his computer

        she looks at him worried before they go busting

        damn it jay. jay, I almost shot you

        need me to talk to u. I don’t need anything jay.

        innocent man, jay. second fight? keeps looking at him

        jay, back off. she pushes him hard, grabs his chest

        she grabs his arm to pull him back

        “you’re too close jay” I’m done being your punching bag -his eyes never leave her

         he’s shot, she’s distressed jay x 4 (she checks his body)

         Hailey, I’m sorry. touches his knee as she gets up then cries

deleted scene jay I thought you were with will, pats arm working this case?

6x03 halstead calls her. she slept with adam

        I gotta meet jay

        you’re like never late. he looks at her after she dismisses him

        checks to see if she follows

        gonna grab halstead and dig in

        look at each other

6x04 greets her when nobody notices

        she gets  the suspect by jumping on him (gay moment for me)

        ready? eye contact

6x05 she knows how to handle idiots

        makes way for her like the first time they met

        I don’t care if we’re sleeping 2gether talk to voight (to adam) LOVE HER

6x06* voight learns about upzek

        i dont do violence

        adam undermines her, she gets angry

        look at each other when talking to voight

       keeps looking at jay when he talks

       hailey we gotta talk. I confirmed his alibi

       hailey you did what you have to, she cries to him about her guilt adam interrupts.

       nothing good comes from workplace romance (he has some feelings?)

       even when he’s debriefing; he looks at hailey. adam doesn’t

       I know u don’t wanna talk about it flirting. she’s sad

       tries to explain to adam: this halstead thing

6x07* looks at him when they’re listening to wire

        he wants to help kev, she grabs his arm to stop

        legally blind witness flirting

        bomb goes off - are u ok? grabs her

        va is dead, she checks on him, he look at her. all with eyes

        pushes her in the room, through her shoulder

        u got me? yeah.

        burqa woman incident. jay x2 , hold on. hailey x7, stop

        we’re not mind readers hailey. *whispering softly you’re not in war anymore*

        look at each other, in the interview

        she doesn’t believe the guy he does.

        sits on her desk

        introduces her as upton to racist woman

        save the commentary and scroll look

        this thing between us. I screwed up hailey. I have bias (her hand on his shoulder)

        looks at her when they walk (feelings maybe?)

6x08 u know she’s with me right?

        adam compliments, jay looks at her

        steals a pen from him in the background when antonio is on the phone

        kev’s suspect calls her out look each other.

        kev asks to talk to snitch, she taps jay to leave

6x09 when adam talks about commitment she gets scared

        jay calls everyone by surnames except “hailey”

        flying blind is fun flirting

        “jay” spotted a camera

        sweeps the house, touches her arm

        suspect pushes her, he catches her and adam punches

        she dresses kim’s vest (gay shriek)

6x10* hailey, come on x2

        she’s angry. looks at him. he look to voight

        voight: trudy. ride with me to the scene (personal)

        asks his opinion on ruzek and iad.

        he catches upzek. she’s upset he saw.

        “a guy I’m dating upzek talk with voight”

         we’re always gonna be good talk

6x11 kelton comes. look at each other.

6x12* he gets agitated, she supports him with her looks, he checks for support

        “jay you allright” kelton denied funds. hailey, we got him rn.

         looks at the bus stop. supporting love. looks.

        she catches him over the body “jay, you ok?” hailey arrived after me.

        she’s angry and he looks at her.she leaves he stays. head salute.

        hailey, what’s up. jay you went dark. is that what you think? jay…

        voight warns him. she’s worried behind.

        she looks you ok? he looks yes go. first nonverbal.

        voight compliments him.

        long week. u can’t right every wrong “jay”. flirting then adam calls. go..

6x13 surveillance flirting about kev

       what the hell look at her

6x14 kim catches upzek

        she gets kidnapped he’s worried

        he’s ok with voight’s tactics cause she’s missing

        he fights with ruzek.

        she’s proud of kim. (personal)

        ruzek goes to kim first.

        he stands up when he sees her. he’s so sad and angry

        she checks jay. he’s upset

6x15* he’s talking to her on the phone

        check if he’s coming behind her

        pushes back her chair to sit on her desk

        “Hailey he’s headed to you” “squad advise my partner ” x 2

         upton are you copying? copy jay are you ok? hailey he’s armed.

         jay! we’re coming in!

         you good? yeah you? yeah

         she’s driving

         jay we’re good. “do what your ladyfriend tell you to do”

         looks at her before he gets out

         they look at each other, he says no she listens

         she keeps checking on him, he assures her after

         he has a hunch, she supports him. he thanks with eyes, she says np with eyes

         he defends his hunch, she silently supports him. then look at each other for thx

         eyes talk: come with me? right now? ok?

         suspect says he’ll snitch, they look at each other we got it

         I’ll follow you blind talk. (she half-confessed her feelings to him)

6x16  “sarge what you don’t let me and hailey go?” “hailey?” and gets her jacket

         I’m halstead and she’s upton.

         I’ll catch up with you, forearm grip

         he waited at the entrance

         serial killer talks to her, he gets nervous

         runs to the car/him, “I got Hailey”

6x17 sitting on her desk

        looks at her, checking out buildings

        “oh yeah good one” arm pat

        looks at her when she’s not looking and looks away when she turns

        throws usb to him, he catches

        they judge the juvie guy together

        voight offers himself to suspect he checks her face to see what she thinks

        they look at each other this time when they been judgey

6x18  sitting on her desk

         hands on her desk when she’s not there like it’s his :)

6x19 towering over her while she looks at the footage

        jay! blue buick

        she tries to help the victim and looks at jay to see if she can he looks no

        she supports kim no qs ask when kim barges in, normally follows the rules

        ruzek keeps checking on kim-believes her immediately  like jay and hailey

        he was sitting on her desk since before hank came in

6x20 she doesn’t wanna meet ruzek’s family?? i dunno

        pats her arm after she’s shot at

        they shadow ruzek but she calls it off. jay doesn’t interfere & looks the whole time

        ruzek wants answers he tries to cover and supports her and tell ruz to let it go

        ruz thinks it’s cause of burzek but it’s not.

        “jay talked to”

         she holds off the op he’s worried a little in the car.

         upstead communicate silently and without questioning

         she checks on jay while he fights the suspect

         she questions her relationship with adam, platt says if he’s not the one end it

         she breaks up with ruzek, and admits they’re not the one for each other

6x21 she’s a bit cocky to the suspect and he smiles a little whilst he turns???

        TRUDY AND HANK what could have been

         they sit at their desk together

         “hailey tell the port supervisor…”

6x22* voight explains the plan, they look at each other worried

        he breaks into the car so fast she flirting

        “jay you close”

         she crashes to save him

         “I’m going where you go” they’re both surprised he said it

         he protects her first when they’re shot at in the van, ‘we’re good“

         she looks at her happily when there’s a lead

         they arrest their shooter together, “me and my partner”

         he’s pressured, she notices. “you’ll forget about me” “hailey” never.

         he want to confess sth but she stops him?

         adam kisses platt :)

         he’s sitting on her desk

[wcstlcys]

( IMOGEN POOTS. THIRTY. CIS-FEMALE. SHE/HER. ) in texas, FRANCINE WOLFF is more commonly known as FRANKIE. they’ve been living in stratford  for THIRTY YEARS and currently a PARAMEDIC. some say they are AMORAL & MEEK but i’m more inclined to believe those that say they’re UNPREDICTABLE & BENEVOLENT. if you walk by their house, you can sometimes hear UNDER THE GRAVEYARD by OZZY OSBOURNE playing from their window. ( trembling hands , blood stained uniform , torn up medical books , chipped nail polish ) 

[ BLOOD, DRUGS, DRUG ABUSE & ADDICTION, OVERDOSE TRIGGER WARNINGS ]

basics.

* goes by frankie – will cry if you call her francine

* panromantic / pansexual

*  

* has a fairly nasty pill habit

* horror movie fanatic 

* has a fairly nasty pill habit  

* frankie is one of the only members of her family who did not choose a career within the police department

* major family issues

* very obscure sense of morals, mostly just wants to help people even if that means breaking the law 

about.

✘ frankie has spent her entire life in stratford, for no other reason that she does not know where else to go. generations of her family have grown up here and never left – so why should she ?? she feels as if she’s stuck and should simply remain.

✘ with her father and grandfather being both deputies within the sheriffs department, along with her siblings as well,  frankie has always felt pressured by their reputation. especially with their very much outspoken hatred towards the gangs within town. perhaps it was her rebilious phase settling in, but she found herself drawn towards those groups. outlaws of any kind, really. anything that screamed the entire opposite of her family.

✘ frankie’s interest in medicine comes from an unusual source. she’s had a strange fascination with blood and violence from a young age. something about it simply just attracts her and she can’t particularly place a finger on it. in fact, the interest bothers her quite greatly at times. she tries her best to ignore it and tries to place it into a practical sense. which is why she chose to go into the field of EMS, she could fuel her obsession without anyone batting an eye, and at the same time she could help people.

✘ while frankie is a paramedic, she’s an incredibly corrupt one. a lot of her patients end up being criminals, a lot of the time in trouble with the law or hold the potential to be in some sort of trouble. she’s helped people escape custody at the hospital numerous times, failed to report things she should to the police, smuggle out medications and supplies from the hospital, and everything in between. she neither views her actions as right or wrong, she’s simply just helping out people when she can.

✘ a lot of her paramedic work also happens off duty, where she’s called into sketchy situations because people can’t go to the hospital in fear of being caught or questioned by the police. she can no longer keep track of the amount of times she’s had to stitch up someone in a poorly lit room with limited supplies at her disposable. but she does it every time, without question.

✘ [ DRUG TRIGGER WARNING ] while on the outside, frankie seems to handle her job just fine, more times than not she had to self-medicate in order to keep her nerves in check. she witnesses a lot of tragedy, death and grief in her lifetime and she has to keep her composure somehow. she refuses to believe she has an addiction, and for those who are aware of it she simply denies it all. her addiction has caused a near constant tremble in her hands, only disappearing when she’s hyper focused on her work. it’s a characteristic she tries to ignore, and shrugs her shoulders when pointed out.

✘ [ OVERDOSE TRIGGER WARNING ] unfortunately , after a particularly bad incident, frankie accidentally overdosed and landed herself in hospital for a short stint of time. her father, not wanting to have any shame or question directed towards his family, managed to keep the whole thing under wraps. a few people are aware of what happened, but for some reason of the other keep quiet about it. especially the person who found her [ yall im sorry but potential connection bye ] she took a brief break from her job whilst she was recovering, and for a lot of people her short disappearance is left unanswered. since the overdose she’s been sort of sober if you can even call it that. she’s been trying to keep things under control but ya gal ain’t so good at that.

✘ when she’s not doing EMS work, both on and off-duty, you’ll probably find her at a club or bar of some sort trying to wind down. it’s not so much about the drinking, she just likes to party and dance whenever she gets the chance. she’s pretty busy most of the time, and ends up taking a lot of night shifts, so partying isnt something she gets to do all the time. she can be quite shy sometimes so she needs a bit of a party setting in order to let loose and have some fun. is that troubling ?? maybe so, but she chooses to ignore it.

✘ horror movie fanatic. are we surprised ?? you’ll often find frankie locked up in her house, horror movies playing in the background. it keeps her sane and she would very much appreciate it if you don’t mention it. she finds it a little embarrassing sometimes. she’s very shy ALRIGHT.

✘ if you call her francine she might just cry. she hates it. only her family calls her that. if you’re special she MIGHT accept fran in a pinch but she always introduces herself as frankie. francine is reserved for family and legal documents alright.

wanted connections.:

✘ BLACKMAIL: [ OPEN ] someone who has gained the knowledge of her corrupted ways and is using it as a means to exploit her. whether it’s because they dislike her, they need information, or they are simply malicious and want to use it against her for their own needs and wishes. please for the love of god torture frankie goodbye  

✘ FIRST LOVE / FIRST HEARTBREAK: [ OPEN ]  because i am a hopeless romantic and also love angst, i demand some cute yet tragic love for frankie. am i lame and going to suggest it be a biker ?? maybe so, but i’m honestly down for civilians as well, whatever works out best !! i see this as someone she’s known for a good chunk of her life and the relationship may have been and off again and on again type of scenario. i also imagine they’re in the know of all her corrupt behavior within the EMS. idk man gimme angst so i can cRY

✘ EXES: [ OPEN ] even after her first heartbreak i imagine she’s dated around here and there. lots of opportunities for messy relationships with her busy work schedule and all the shady stuff she does on the sidelines.

✘ BEST FRIENDS / RIDE OR DIES: [ OPEN ] these would be the people she loves with her whole heart. she would do absolutely anything for them and literally commit crimes and risk her job for them. these could be childhood friends or simply friends she’s met along the way, even through her work ! especially her off-duty work

✘ FRIENDSHIPS: frankie needs friends ok pls she can be so sweet and loving and i just want her to drown everyone in platonic love and kisses 

✘ HOOKUPS / FWBS: [ OPEN ] listen…ya gal has needs. she has a very busy schedule and doesnt have a lot of time to date. she needs to let off some steam alright ok cool

✘ PATIENTS / WORK RELATED [ OPEN ]: frankie opens up her services to a lot of people. sometimes she gets paid, other times she’s just owed a favour – but most of the time she simply just does it to help out. i imagine a lot of these connections would be affiliated with the gangs. she’s very much neutral to both sides and tries to help out whenever she can.

✘ WORK CONNECTIONS [ OPEN ]: police, fire department, hospital workers PLEASE come give frankie some love cus i imagine they’d interact a lot based off of their careers.

ok SO this is all i can think of right now but i am ofc open to a lot more connections and i REALLY wanna plot with all of yall and snatch up those connections.

[creamypalazzo]

as to cater to my lack of sleep I ended up becoming very hyper aware of a song that got stuck in my head, and it’s called god is fair, sexy, nasty by Mac Miller, and it’s a song in my jotakak playlist that elicits incredibly h0rny + romantic energy that I wanna believe is also up to par with jotaro and kakyoin’s relationship in my o p i n i o n because I am in love with them and they are in love and babies and in spite of the very hypersexual lyrics here I also wanna be inclusive to the romantic expressions here and there that also perfectly match up to mu headcanons of their relationship lmao,, also do note that I like bottom jotaro and this is also mostly in Kakyoin’s perspective so it’s also what made the song contribute so well and I Am Like This Because God Made It So and it’s ok.

actually what I wanna talk about before the lyrics is the segment of jazz that plays before it delves into mac’s usual r&b/hip hop instrumental, it’s supposed to set the mood smoothly and because of that, all I think about is the thought of jotaro and his love for jazz that is also never really regarded by a lot of fans. It’s an unusual trait considering the Everything that jotaro is but I love to see it as a way that Kakyoin doesn’t Ignore that part of him and knows how he fully is- Jotaro isn’t completely cold and edgy and bitter, he still has a brighter side to him, and his love for him is what makes him so seen.

funny enough, there wasn’t much background to the song aside from the chorus itself from kendrick lamar, though that does save me enough time and I’ve only done the better reading to understand the first chorus, which is this:

apparently for a time, Kendrick suffered immense survivor’s guilt and trauma that happened when he was younger, amidst all his success he still suffered a lot of issues that his partner had continually supported him through the rougher times- all the violence he suffered from has cultivated all into the “bullet” where his partner is represented as a rose, and their love has been the reason he’d been able to get through his issues. It’s also continued to the rest of the chorus, being together and folding into each other’s desires is also a parallel to Kakyoin and Jotaro’s relationship, where the hardest come down they’d know each other so well, so intimately, to be able to find each other in ways that they’d only ever know.

tbh probably one of my favorite things about Jotaro’s relationships is that they’d always always always emphasize his beauty- he isn’t all his beauty, but the fact his personality is practically worn on his face is what makes it. To me, Jotaro is forced to be fully aware of his features from the attention he’s gotten, but with his intimidating demeanor it also gets pointed out too because, 1) fear is an aphrodisiac, 2) it makes him so much more powerful that way, to be beautiful and feared is probably a feeling that he doesn’t get to understand would be so good, honestly, but to think that Kakyoin would take the sight of him in, would make him feel like he’s been looking at a god. Ironically, a god that would definitely make him commit sins and defilings of desires he didn’t even think he’d have on Jotaro, but here they are. Kakyoin would be mesmerized, especially with being an artist, he could paint him, paint on him, his body and his face is a work of art that subjects him into a place of some kind of worship because it definitely deserves it, but Kakyoin’s got desires that even makes the devil shiver.

This is probably one of the verses that struck me the most, and I say one of because there’s actually more to it. There isn’t any background as to, say, if this song was about anybody in particular, the only song in the album that was actually mentioned to be about someone entirely was Cinderella (and that shit got wild real fast lmao). But to know that this was probably about someone who was cold, who definitely had issues too? God. Jotaro is cold, when it comes to his feelings he honestly will probably not keep up with them. It makes him turn away from people who he should have been vulnerable around, who he’s allowed to be weak around, but he wants to hide it and shows it constantly, sex or not he’s probably always into the rougher things as to compensate. I like to think Kakyoin is there to test it- aside from the actual connotation, relationships always test people to how they become better than they used to be, it’s not just a test for each other but it is a test for themselves, in the name of love and the loves of their life, it’s a matter of asking, what do you want to do? Is it for them, or yourself? And in this case, ‘take my time, hit that slow’ shows off the contrast to what Jotaro normally ventures off to. Jotaro would have to adjust for that and also be made to understand what Kakyoin would feel, think, in the pace that he, for once, would want them in. Jotaro can finally learn, in and out of sex how he should consider the most out of Kakyoin- I know events of SDC would say that he does consider a lot because of Holly, but he doesn’t exactly have easier times reading his friends or family and most of the time does stay in a self-indulgent bubble where he doesn’t really know how to treat people’s feelings other than the ways he knows how. Kakyoin is a test to it, and Jotaro follows because he has the need to understand it, to know him.

You’re the only thing for me in this fucked up world is also a really painful statement, to me at least. It hits hard with the fact that Mac and Ariana later broke up because of their relationship turning toxic, I know he didn’t make this song for her but to know this statement was written out of his heart is what makes the genuity. Kakyoin, as we know has mostly been alone his whole life. He never really got to be vulnerable around other kids and his only friend was his stand that way, only being able to cope with his excess time with the fact that Hierophant could help him play video games better and that was probably just how he spent it. Alone, definitely unused to company that felt like he knew him. Enter Jotaro, new to stands, just as socially inept, same liking to sumo, gorgeous as hell and checking every box that Tenmei Kakyoin didn’t even know he had. He saved him from a lifetime of pain and suffering, saw a part of him that also made him understand that they weren’t alone. They’re the only two kids in a world of war and other dangerous things, the fact that they both don’t know how to interact with each other like normal people do is both hilarious and endearing, but it’s made better by the fact that it makes them understand and like each other. It’s almost like a matter of fate that way, because honestly, how long would have Kakyoin gone if he hadn’t met the Crusaders? He fell into Dio’s hands so quick because Dio could understand him, see right through him with his desperations and loneliness, but later fell for Jotaro because it’s all genuine, and a person that Kakyoin has learned to love because they didn’t know how to get to each other until they had to learn how.

And do you believe in love? Is another part of them. I never thought that Jotaro nor Kakyoin would honestly think of it, they had other shit to think about and it was definitely not girls, Kakyoin probably had a thing for h3ntai (I had a running joke somewhere that he was ripped because he kept jerking off lmao) but I doubt he ever indulged in the romantic areas, he never cared about it in particular until Jotaro came around to make him realize, oh, this was a crush. I always headcanoned that Jotaro was gay: he wasn’t exactly growing up in the best time to think about it, nor did he really like girls, his next best big brain moment was to probably ignore the feeling and just believed that girls were a whole no. Well, yes, the annoying stalkers mostly were at fault, but it made him not like the appeal of them, where he didn’t understand how boys would look at girls and drool over their thighs, where girls would fight about whose chests were smaller, because girls were just so boring and annoying to look at. It’s boys on the other hand that always had his attention. Many of the guys in his school probably would have been excited/terrified that the cool, smart Jotaro Kujo would approach them, and probably take him in as his friend or probably pick a fight, but in reality, he just didn’t know how to approach someone attractive, let alone someone of the same gender when his relationship with his father continually strained. So then he thought over it, a lot. Holding hands with a boy, kissing a boy. Hooking his arm around one, holding onto him no matter what. For a time he thought he just couldn’t be in love, it was just that he didn’t like the idea of it being with a girl, that was all.

Hold on tight when demons come / It’ll be alright, no need to run / Stay with me tonight, we’ll see the sun / And when we wake up we’ll still be drunk Ah yes, this verse analysis is going to be very long as I Analyse this until I pass out from sleep deprivation. These two lines are a combination of what I’ve said in both the previous paragraph and fourth one, reiterating my statements again, but I think this is the dawning of their trust with each other when they finally get to like each other. They both need someone they can trust and understand, but it’s Jotaro who has to be the one to not run away from it while Kakyoin is the one who holds on tightly because he’s never had this at all before. Someone like him has definitely developed attachment issues that way, and he’s not letting Jotaro get away from something that he knows they both need. Hence the cuddliness in the last three: Never felt this free before / I need you more than keys and doors / I need you sleepin’ next to me

You know by this point in their journey you wonder how deprived of touch everybody is, but especially with Kakyoin and Jotaro being together now this seems to end up as a way to deal with touch starvation with each other. I doubt both would be used to any of the contact, but it’s Kakyoin who’s trying to be more enthusiastic with it while Jotaro is also trying to adjust himself even though he doesn’t quite have any idea of what to do. But they try, try a lot, and Kakyoin finds that he enjoys holding Jotaro and Jotaro’s learned to love feeling and being held, being loved by this boy, no less. It makes them miss each other more every time they stay apart, the fact that Kakyoin got his ass handed to him back in the desert is also what makes it difficult, every time Jotaro visits him in the hospital Kakyoin would probably take his hand and hold it close to his face before kissing it, always so impatient and probably a bit horny and inappropriate than he needs to be and most of all lonely— and jotaro in turn would direct him to his lips where they’d always kiss softly, slowly turning desperate, both just progressively careless in the predicament with Kakyoin only being able to navigate Jotaro’s neck and jaw with kisses, Jotaro trying so much as to not lift the hospital gown and instead holding his scalp while he presses kisses all over his face, and sure it’s only been probably a week or so but they missed each other so god damn much, Kakyoin missing cupping Jotaro’s cheek and taking in the absolute sight of how beautiful he always is, but while he’s recovering he’s just glad he could still be able to touch him.

(You shy,) you don’t reveal too much / (No lies,) don’t hide your self at all / (Where’s your—) I just can’t help but fall / (It’s true,) and I’ve tried everything / My sexy, nasty thing / is actually the set of lines that hits the most here tbh. They carry the same sentiments that I’ve said in my fourth paragraph and supposedly should have been my previous one if it weren’t for the fact that that shit got deleted and all but I guess my WiFi just wouldn’t work yknow,,, anyway by this point I don’t believe that this is because of any clothing related reveal situation whatsoever, I like associating this with the idea that Jotaro’s so used to shutting his feelings out that it’s so difficult to express them, but anytime he sees Kakyoin he’s just so . unused to feeling free and allowed to be able to see him in this light while Kakyoin is made to be so aware of it. It makes Jotaro feel naked, even if they have their clothes on, he may not be that expressive but Kakyoin’s found himself starting to recognize the building looks that Jotaro’s giving him, hooded eyes or widened ones where he looks so curious and stunned. If Jotaro would be made too aware of it his pride makes him swallow and look away, but a lot of the time Kakyoin, even so overwhelmed and flustered, would encourage him not to be ashamed of it, to be vulnerable to him because he loves the feeling that the way he looks at him is actually being returned. They love each other, even if they were young they knew it was love. It was so perfectly destined that God had to be the one to cut it short. 

There’s a line from a JotaKak doujinshi in particular that somehow manages to hurt me to read every time called Let’s Meet at The Usual place; it’s a doujinshi presenting memories of Kakyoin and Jotaro’s relationship where they realize they like each other (yes there is a lot of sex but yeah), and the very last line is Kakyoin’s final message when looking back to them:

I don’t like being lonely, so please talk to me from time to time. There’s a story that I don’t know, so let’s meet at the usual place. 

Now, I bring this up, while also crying, because at a point, Kakyoin’s childhood problems have definitely affected him badly growing up. It’s considered that he has a lot of obvious signs of clinical depression, which is a topic that can be discussed here, but I wonder how frequent he could go into these episodes? Did he ever take meds? I know I’ve had a fair share to this kinda shit but god damn, it’s mentioned in the link above that it probably ranges in a severity, and it makes sense! How many episodes has he gone through it alone? How long did he have to believe that he was alone, considering he decided outright he could never be friends with someone who can’t see his stand? It’s emphasized a lot that if it weren’t for the stands, Jotaro and Kakyoin wouldn’t have been friends at all. I just think: With the presence of the Crusaders, he definitely developed a peace of mind. 

Why do I say this? It’s mostly taking into consideration with the way Mac handles his feelings: he gets really emotional when he’s high- in this case, even if Kakyoin hadn’t been using his meds, how emotional can he get in episodes or developing episodes in particular? How far do these go, and how much does it trouble Jotaro that he doesn’t even know what to do? I wanna believe that for the most part, he’d feel better, definitely a lot better, even in his episodes he could look at Jotaro and realize that he’s waited far too long for somebody who could understand him, who could see him, taking him to a place where he feels warmer, happier, and he would hold Jotaro close to him and realize he has more than just thanking him for literally saving his life. Jotaro would be everything to him. 

Honestly, I don’t think Jotaro has carried similar feelings of loneliness, but he had a feeling of want to this. He knows his desires, he knows what he likes, who he loves, most importantly, but he realized that without Kakyoin’s presence it’s suddenly so boring and sad without him. In a way he feels scared, even though he knows Kakyoin is strong enough to handle himself, his worry manifests in a way that he knows that it’s how his mother could worry but it just can’t be helped.  

Will you come home with me? Hits HARDEST, especially, I know a lot of this is sexual undertones but as I’ve repeatedly stated, god damn does the change in context make it hurt, like there’s definitely been a lot of talk and a lot of promises that were made for when they come back home, Jotaro would have wanted to bring him home to Holly where she’d be safe and sound, and he knew for a fact that seeing her again, with the idea that she’d be overjoyed with them being together has given him something so pleasant. 

But Jotaro could never have that. He never got to say goodbye, or save him in time. For the longest time, Jotaro has realized that there was nobody that was going to make him this happy. 

And, really. Nobody could do it like Kakyoin, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be happy again. 

[elles-choices]

Part 4: Say You Won’t Let Go  (TRR AU, Liam x MC)

Pairing: Liam x MC (Catherine)

Words Count: about 2900

A/N: This story contains reference to violence -- readers discretion advised! The case portrayed in this story is based on a real case - some details were modified. Children, please, look away.

PS: For part 1-3 please look below :)

Summary: Catherine Spencer returns to New York after her fall from grace in Cordonia. She left the love of her life behind and all the dreams she had dared to dream. Now she has to pick up the pieces and move on but her past has a way of finding her.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Choices by Pixel Berry

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„When you looked over your shoulder

For a minute, I forget that I'm older

I wanna dance with you right now

Oh, and you look as beautiful as ever

And I swear that everyday'll get better

You make me feel this way somehow

I'm so in love with you

And I hope you know

Darling your love is more than worth its weight in gold

We've come so far my dear

Look how we've grown

And I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old

Just say you won't let go“, Say you won’t let go, James Arthur

------------------------

Catherine stands on the stage of the University of Cordonia’s auditorium, in front of a crowd of students, visitors and faculty members. She is nervous, not because of the people in front of her but because she is back to his country and it reminds her of everything she has tried to forget.

After a round of applause, she walks up to the microphone and starts her speech:

„The story I came to tell you today is one of the most harrowing stories I have ever encountered in my years as a lawyer. Our client was only 19 years old when war broke out and a religious extremist terror group took over her village. She, a university student just like most of you here, was forced to watch all of the men in her community, including her father and brothers, be marched off to their death — 600 of them being killed in one single day. Her mother was killed together with other older women and disposed in a mass grave. Our client… she was only 19 when she was traded from one terrorist to another, forced to make herself pretty every time before she was raped — sometimes, raped until unconsciousness by a group of men. She was beaten and burned with cigarets.. She was one of 8000 women and children, some of them as young as 11, taken by this group to be sold in a sex slave market, sometimes for as little as $20.

These perpetrators bragged online about killing the men, conquering the women and wiping their religion from this world. Make no mistake, what I am describing you today is genocide — and it is still ongoing. Yet, only a handful of these men have been prosecuted in a court of law for crimes committed against this religious minority. And with every day, evidences are being lost and destroyed and witnesses are being dispersed or disappearing.

States are failing to punish and condemn these crimes whilst girls are having their body sold and used as battlefields. Yes, military actions are being taken but this is only part of the response. You can’t kill an ideology with bombs. But you can expose their crimes, their brutality and corruption through trials — trials that are in line with our values and our standards. The survivors of these crimes are seeking justice and the opportunity to face their abusers in an international court and we cannot deny them that (…)“

—————

After a couple of hours of discussing this case with law professors and answering a few questions from the public, the session comes to an end. Catherine stands in the hallway talking to her colleague and a member of the faculty, when she hears a familiar voice calling her name, „Spencer!“.

She turns around to find Drake, Hana and Maxwell standing a few feet away. She excuses herself and with a big smile on her face she walks up to them, hugging each one of them warmly, „I can’t believe you guys came!“, she says surprised.

„Are you kidding? We couldn’t wait to see you, Katie. And now look at you being a badass lawyer! And this story… ohhhh boy, this is sooo sad…“, he pauses for a few seconds, „But, hey, I am so happy that you are here. Is it too soon to say that we should celebrate your return to Cordonia with a bash!?“, Maxwell looks at the others showing his excitement of seeing his friend after so many years. Everybody laughs but Drake looks at him making an annoyed face.

Hana takes Catherine’s hand and squeezes it, saying: „We tried to call you a few days ago but I guess you changed your number again. Hopefully, you can stay with us for the weekend“.

Catherine smiles, „I got a new number a few months ago. I’m sorry, I guess I forgot to send you the text“, she picks up a business card from her bag and gives it to Hana, „Here you go and my email is in there too, just in case you guys want to get in touch“. She then looks at Maxwell and says: „About this bash thing… sadly, I am flying back in the evening. But we could spend sometime together until I have to leave“, she smiles, looking forward to catching up with them.

Drake clears his throat, „Hmm, Liam was here too, Spencer. He left a few minutes ago to take care of a few things“. When she hears his name she feels her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach. „But he left an invitation for you to join him at the palace. There is a car waiting for you outside…“.

Catherine takes a deep breath, „I don’t know if this is a good idea, Drake… Also, I am not really in the mood to cross Madeleine’s path and to deal with old drama“.

„Madeleine won’t be a problem, I guarantee you. We won’t force you to go, but Spencer, you guys should talk somethings out and you know that“, Drake says it, giving her a serious look. It took her some convincing, but Catherine finally decides to go see Liam at the palace.

After exchanging a few words with her friends, she leaves the building and heads to the car. As she enters it, she sees a bouquet of red roses with a small card lying on the seat next to her. She looks at it and smiles, recognizing Liam’s handwriting:

„Dear Catherine,

I can’t wait to see you… it’s been far too long.

Love,

Liam“

She knows, she shouldn’t feel like this but she has butterflies in her stomach. She looks out of the window nervous, knowing that she is minutes away from seeing him after such a long time. It is incredible that he still makes her feel this way… incredible and scary. He is right, it’s been far too long, but after their last talk, she hoped for a long time that they would never cross paths again.

—————

 4 years ago…

Catherine stands in the doorway and looks at Liam sitting at the table, covering his eyes with his hands.

„So, that’s it? You are going to marry her… did you came here for what? Get my blessing?“, Catherine asks angrily.

„Don’t say that, Katie. It’s not like I have a choice… I am begging you to come with me. I can’t do this without you“, he looks at her, tears streaming down his face.

„I don’t get it, Liam. Why can’t you just call off the wedding? Instead, you want me to hold your hand whilst you are getting married to her?“, she shakes her head and starts crying. 

He stands up and walks over to her but before he can hold her in his arms, she says firmly: „Get out!“, she looks into his eyes „If you are going to marry her, you should leave now… there is nothing to be said anymore!“. He stands there, looking at her for a minute before walking out of the living room. There is so much he would like to tell her now, but she would not listen to him. He opens the front door and looks back to see her one last time. She turns to him and says: „If you go through with this, don’t you dare come back for me!“, he sinks his head and turns away from her, leaving the shards of their love scattered over Catherine’s apartment. Catherine falls to the floor, tears bursting forth like water from a dam and she knows, this is the end.

—————

The black Mercedes stops in front of the palace and Catherine is greeted by Bastien, who asks her to follow him into a path she knows too well. They are heading to the maze and Catherine can’t help feeling some mixed feelings about it. This place brought her so much happiness but it also caused her so much pain. A few feet away from the center of the maze, Bastien asks to take care of the flowers for her, telling her to go ahead.

Catherine walks slowly, feeling as if her heart was going to burst. She takes a few deep breaths before she reaches the center. Looking over, she sees Liam pacing around, as nervous as she is and she smiles — he looks just the same, as if nothing had changed. 

Suddenly their eyes meet. He sees her in her black sleeveless mid dress, her blond hair kept in a ponytail and he feels his heart skipping a beat. To him, she is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen and having her finally there, in front of him, woke up something in him that he thought was gone. „Catherine…“, he walks up to her with a big smile on his face, „I can’t believe you came…“, he embraces her.

„Hi Liam, it is really nice to see you“, she says a little unsure of how to react. He looks at her again, takes her hand and brings her to under a tree, where there is a blanket with a picnic basket and some cushions on it, „Wow, it feels kind of surreal to be back here with you“, she smiles and they sit on the blanket.

„I know… you look stunning as always, it feels as if time stood still“, he takes her hand and brushes his thumb over her knuckles. He stares at her smiling for a few seconds not believing she is there with him. 

Catherine blushes and looks away for a moment, saying under her breath, „And yet four years have gone by…“, there is a sadness in her voice.

„Four years, two months and 23 days…“, he whispers, kissing her hand and causing Catherine to wonder how he could know this so precisely. After a short moment of silence, he opens the basket, saying: „I took the liberty to choose an American dish for us… I hope you still love Sloppy Joes!?“, she laughs in disbelief that he remembered the time they spent in New York together before he left to the engagement tour — she actually taught him how to make her mother’s recipe. He hands her a plate and napkins. „So, tell me more about your life. You are doing an impressive job and I’m so proud of you!“, he says smiling at her.

„Thank you, but I’m only doing my job and I’m not doing this alone, it is a team work and I am really grateful for being able to be a part of it. As you can imagine, my life has been busy. I am glad I have a few days off coming up, before the craziness starts again…“, she takes a bite and says: „Ohh, this is really good! Compliments to the chef…“, he smiles and offer her something to drink.

„I’m glad you like it, I spent the evening cooking this“, he laughs thinking about how the kitchen looked liked afterwards. 

Catherine looks at him in disbelief, „What? You made these?“, she laughs „I guess I have seen everything now… and for the looks of it, the palace is still standing, so congratulations!“

Liam laughs, „Well, I cook it every now and then. Drake loves it and, well… there are a lot of good memories attached to it.“. She smiles at him and he says: „But apart from work, what have you been up to? Are you… are you seeing someone?“, he looks at her hand, blushing and shaking his head „I am sorry, I used to be good at this kind of conversations, but I haven’t put it into praxis in a while“. 

Catherine giggles, thinking his reaction is adorable, „No, I’m not seeing anyone. I haven’t had a relationship since… since I broke off my engagement a year ago. I just don’t have the time for a relationship right now“, she takes a sip of her drink.

„Ohh, I see…“, he smiles discreetly „I heard about your engagement… I’m sorry it didn’t work out“, he says looking at her.

„Nope, you are not really sorry, are you?“, she laughs „But how did you know? Did Hana tell you?“, Liam’s face falls as he explains:

„When I divorced Madeleine, 15 months ago after we found Tariq and he finally cleared your name, I went to New York. I wanted to talk to you… I couldn’t wait to see you and tell you the news. Bastien found your new address, but he also found out that you had a fiance. I wanted to tell you the news so bad… but when I saw you with him, I just couldn’t… you seemed happy, so happy with him and I felt as if I would be intruding in your life again“, he sighs, staring ahead. „I was happy for you but it killed me inside that I wasn’t the one by your side and it was all my fault. I shouldn’t have married Madeleine… I should have broke it off and dealt with the consequences. I have regretted my choice from the moment I said ‚I do‘ until today“, he takes a deep breath, „And now having you here, I can’t help but imagining what could have been. All I know is that not a day went by that I didn’t miss you, Katie“, he says lowering his face.

Catherine can’t believe he went back to New York to see her. They both have been through so much but she knows how difficult it might have been for him to let her go. She gets closer to him and leans her head on his shoulders „I knew about Tariq, Hana told me everything, but I never knew you got divorced…“. He puts one arm around her waist and she continues, „What happened that day in my apartment in New York really hurt me, Liam. But I know that, in a very twisted way, you were trying to be responsible and to be the best King for your country… you put your duty before your feelings, hurting both of us“, he pulls her closer to him and kisses her hair.

„I really hope you can forgive me one day, Katie. I don’t deserve it… I really don’t but I never stopped loving you…“, he looks at her deep blue eyes „Do you still feel anything for me?“, he takes her hand and kisses it. He is nervous, unsure if he can take the answer.

Catherine looks away for a few seconds, then back at him „I forgave you years ago, Liam. But my life is just chaos right now, I don’t have the time to put the effort into a relationship… if this is what you want to know“, she looks away again, spending some minutes in silence. She stands up, she seems distant as if some old walls have come up again, „Anyway, thank you for the walk down memory lane, but I really should get going. I have a flight to catch in a few hours and I still have a few things to do“. 

Liam stands up as well and locks his arms around her, pulling her against him, „You didn’t answer my question… do you still have feelings for me?“, he rests his forehead against hers.

„Do I really have to say this?”, she sees his baby blue eyes pleading for an answer, “Okay… I… I never stopped loving you either, Liam. But it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have the time for this. There is no more you and me, this is part of the past now and we have to leave it there“, she puts her hands on his chest, pushing him gently away.

Liam closes his eyes feeling the pain of her words and whispers, „Are you happy? Because I have been miserable… I would do anything for you, anything you want from me just for one chance of a happy life with you, Katie“, he looks deep in her eyes „You say you don’t have time for this, then let me do the work this time, Catherine… let me be the one to put the effort and fight for this, the way you fought for me… please. I am not the Liam that left you alone in that apartment anymore, I want to show you that“.

Catherine shakes her head slightly, „I don’t know if I wanna go there, Liam. I don’t wanna go through a pain like that ever again… I don’t know if I can survive this one more time“, she turns around slowly but he lightly grabs her hand and gently pulls her towards him into a passionate kiss. Her eyes widened as she felt his lips colide with hers but she soon relaxes into his arms, wrapping her hands around his neck and pushing him harder against her. The kiss lasted moments but they found themselves breathless as they parted. She gazed at Liam’s face and he knew she felt it too — the four years have not erased one bit of their love and passion for each other. 

„Spend your time off with me… we can go somewhere only the two of us. And if you still think it won’t work, I’ll accept it… but please, let me try!“, he kisses her forehead.

She cups his face, looking into his eyes, „I promise I will think about it, Liam…“, that was all she could tell him for now. She rises up on her tip toes and gives Liam a peck on the cheek, slowly brushing her hands on his muscular chest. He smiles hopeful and watches her making her way to the car.

(To be continued…)

For more chapters go to my MASTERLIST in my bio.

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The Royal Romance Liam x MC Tag

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[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

The First Purge review

The Purge is such a fascinating series to me in that it goes through the reverse of what you might expect a series to go through. The first film had an interesting concept - a night of legalized crime in which society indulges in its most base desires and goes about murdering - but instead of exploring or even SHOWING us this, instead we get a s0-so home invasion film where a rich white couple fights off masked intruders. Yawn.

But then came the sequels, and with them the director seemed to realize all of the social and political commentary that could be mined from such a subject as the Purge, and by god did they run with it. This is a series that ascended in quality, with the sequels just getting better and better, and while you can debate which film is the best in the series, no one will ever say it’s the first one.

Because of all this, I think I can safely say at this point I love The Purge series. Its lack of subtlety in its social commentary and political criticisms combined with its over-the-top violence and sinister government conspiracies makes me incredibly endeared to it; I think we all too often forget subtlety is not always the best, and in the current political climate I think The Purge series is kinda the hot cup of tea we need to be served. And out of all the movies in the series, The First Purge may be the hottest cup of tea of all.

So you know that criticism the films get, where “Oh, everyone goes out to kill? That’s so unrealistic, people would probably just vandalize or do drugs or whatever, why is it murder?” Well, this movie, in showing the test run for what became the Purge, shows us… exactly that. Despite the government offering money to poor, disenfranchised, and struggling people on Staten Island, the testing grounds for this new system… they record one murder done by a man named Skeletor, who was an insane, frothing-at-the-mouth violent lunatic before any of this. Everyone else? They’re having block parties, fucking in public, or just messing with people. The worst crimes in the early hours are the murders Skeletor commits and some robberies committed by people who were already drug-dealing gangsters. There’s also a creepy guy wearing a crying baby doll on his face who set up a trap so he can grab women and drag them into the sewer so he can grab their pussies, but that’s neither here nor there; the point is, the Purge isn’t doing what the evil political party the New Founding Fathers want. So what do they do? They decide to fudge the results of this test by flying in mercenaries, Klansmen, just real fucking evil and violent people, to massacre the poor so that they can get the numbers up. This isn’t really a spoiler - this is all stuff proudly displayed in the sequels - but seeing how even early on the government twisted a social experiment so they could sell legalized murder of the poor to the public is truly disturbing.

Our heroes are gangster Dmitri, his ex girlfriend and anti-Purge protestor Nya, and her little brother Isaiah who has decided to go out so he can kill Skeletor. Can they survive this night? I mean, we know the Purge is gonna be going on for another couple of decades at least, but will these guys be ok?

So the film is about as subtle as a brick to the face, as I’m sure you can tell from what I described, but I think that’s what makes me say this is the smartest film in the series. Our country NEEDS a lack of subtlety right now. And I think we forget that sometimes a lack of subtlety helps make a compelling narrative; look at American History X, for example. That movie is entirely unsubtle, but it is effective and well done. Now, I’m not saying this film is as good as American History X, but I do think this movie’s lack of subtlety helps it along. Every major character in the film is a minority of some kind - our main characters are all black, and we see Asians, Latinos, even an older gay couple. Pretty much everyone in this film is struggling or poverty-stricken. And the villains? An evil group of sadistic government assholes who think slaughtering the poor is the best way to help the public, and when people don’t wanna buy into it, they create a false flag operation to sell the idea of legalized killing. There’s really no good white people in this movie, save for, interestingly enough, the woman who came up with the idea of the Purge in the first place. While at first she seems as evil and politically motivated as any other person working for the NFFA, as soon as she notices things getting ultra violent she becomes suspicious and finds out her test’s data is being fudged by mercs being flown in to kill the poor. She gets shipped off to Staten Island and killed for her trouble. Like I said, UNSUBTLE. But it is pretty effective.

The most fascinating character in this film is probably Skeletor, an absolutely insane black man who signed up for this night so he could get paid for indiscriminately killing people. He’s the kind of utterly fanatical murderer you’d expect from this series, and his actor Rotimi Paul steals every single scene he’s in. It makes it all the more of a letdown when he doesn’t get the honor of a final fight with the protagonists, despite being set up as a major villain, but even his anti-climactic ending is pretty cool as he manages to sneak up on and kill armed soldiers while being nearly naked.

And of course it wouldn’t be a Purge film without a bunch of creeps in masks. We have the baby-doll pussy grabber, we have a creepy rag face guy who just walks down a hallway creepily, we have this insane butcher guy in what looks like a welding mask, and best of all, in the final battle, we have what I can only describe as… a Gimp Nazi. For some more general mooks we also have truckloads of Klansmen as well as some masked cops who beat down a black man in… well do I REALLY need to explain what they’re going for there? Unsubtle, remember. Of course, with all these nasty folk out and about, it becomes extremely cathartic to watch them get stabbed, neck snapped, and gunned down by our heroes. Let me tell you, seeing Klansmen murdered is always a good time.

Honestly, this movie is an excellent example of a modern Blaxploitation film; it has pretty much all the trappings of the genre, as it’s set in a poor neighborhood, has a majority black cast, features the protagonists fighting against The Man and the oppression of evil white folk… all that’s missing is some kung-fu and some more funk in the soundtrack. And that just makes me love the film all the more, because boy do I love me some blaxploitation.

I highly recommend this movie. It’s really great; unsubtle, yes, definitely, but great. Sadly, I think this movie is not going to do quite as well as I think it deserves to. The way our society is right now, people get really hostile at any sort of indictment of modern politics; any criticism of our dumbass president is met with angry people getting offended that someone dares to criticize a soulless politician (a redundant phrase, I know). We just live in a time and place where people are just really hostile towards any sort of social or political commentary, and I sadly think this movie will be a victim of it due to its indictment of conservative ideology, racism, and Trump-era politics. It’s not a shock to me that most of the reviews of this on IMDB are all colored with some sort of anger that this film has the AUDACITY to try and be intelligent, with a good chunk of reviews calling it “biased” and “political propaganda”… oh well. I pray this movie finds its audience, either now or in the future. Because boy oh boy do I believe it deserves it.

Long live The Purge.

BUT WAIT! Just to prove my point… take a look at some of these excerpts from a few absolutely ridiculous IMDB user reviews! We’ve got it all here folks!

Accusations of being written by children combined with whining about how this film is made to “Divide” while also throwing in potshots at Star Wars and Get Out? CHECK!

Accusations of race baiting? CHECK!

Complaining about criticisms of Trump? CHECK! As an added bonus, this guy cancelled his ticket - hey buddy, how’d you review this film opening day if you didn’t go?

Crying about how the film is propaganda? Cheeeeeeeeeeeck!

Whining about BLM? Oh boy do we got a big old check!

And hey let’s just have one more whiny little bitch before we go: